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The Dune universe, set in the distant future of humanity, has a history that stretches thousands of years (some 15,000 years in total) and covers considerable changes in political, social, and religious structure as well as technology. Creative works set in the Dune universe can be said to fall into five general time periods: * The Butlerian Jihad: Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson; Great Schools of Dune (2014–2016) by Brian Herbert and Anderson * The Corrino-led Imperium: Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Anderson; Heroes of Dune series (2008–2009) by Brian Herbert and Anderson * The rise of the Atreides: Dune (1965), Dune Messiah (1969), and Children of Dune (1976) by Frank Herbert; Heroes of Dune series (2008–2009) by Brian Herbert and Anderson * The reign and fall of the God Emperor: God Emperor of Dune (1981) by Frank Herbert * The return from the Scattering: Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) by Frank Herbert; Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007) by Brian Herbert and Anderson 

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In March 1996, fictional Democratic U.S. Senator Jay Bulworth of California appears to be losing his primary bid for re-election to a fiery young populist. Bulworth's liberal views, formed in the 1960s and 1970s, have lost favor with voters, so he has conceded to more conservative politics and to accepting donations from big corporations. While he and his wife have been having affairs with each other's knowledge for years, they must still present a happy facade in the interest of maintaining a good public image. Tired of politics, unhappy with his life in general, and planning to commit suicide, Bulworth negotiates a $10 million life insurance policy with his daughter as the beneficiary in exchange for a favorable vote from the insurance industry. Knowing that a suicide will void his daughter's inheritance, he contracts to have himself assassinated within two days. Turning up in California for his campaign extremely drunk, Bulworth freely begins speaking his mind at public events and in the presence of the C-SPAN film crew following his campaign. After dancing all night in an underground club and smoking marijuana, he even starts rapping in public. His frank, potentially offensive remarks make him an instant media darling and re- energize his campaign. Along the way he becomes romantically involved with a young black activist named Nina, who tags along with him on his campaign stops. He is pursued by the paparazzi, his insurance company, his campaign managers and an increasingly adoring public, all the while fearful of his impending assassination. After a televised debate during which Bulworth drinks from a flask on air and derides insurance companies and the American healthcare system, he decides to hide at Nina's family's home, located in the South Central Los Angeles ghetto. While there he wanders around the neighborhood, where he witnesses a group of kids selling crack, and buys the group ice cream. After saving the group from a racially motivated encounter with a police officer, he finds out they are "soldiers" of L.D., a local drug kingpin to whom Nina's brother owes money. Bulworth eventually makes it to a television appearance arranged earlier by his campaign manager, during which he raps and repeats verbatim statements that Nina and L.D. have told him about the lives of poor black people and their opinions of various American institutions, like education and employment. Eventually he offers the solution that "everybody should fuck everybody" until everyone is "all the same color" stunning the audience and his interviewer. After Bulworth's TV appearance (at the end of which one mysterious assassination attempt occurs) he escapes with Nina and goes with her back to her house where she reveals that she is the assassin he indirectly hired (ostensibly to make the money needed to pay off the debt her brother owes to L.D.) and will now not carry out the job. Relieved, Bulworth falls asleep for the first time in days in Nina's arms. Bulworth sleeps deeply for over 36 hours (with Nina tenderly watching over him), during which time the media is abuzz about his mysterious absence on election day. During this time, various people are shown reacting to the TV coverage and the impact Bulworth's escapade is making on the political/social conversation in the country (race, poverty, inequity, greed). Bulworth wins the primary election by a landslide. The next morning the press and Bulworth's campaign managers converge on Nina's house, all eager to talk to him. L.D. also comes to Nina's house and, having had a change of heart, says he will let Nina's brother work off his debt instead of hurting or killing him. Bulworth emerges from the bedroom looking rested and, as he steps outside, he invites Nina to go with him; she eventually joins him, after some hesitation. Bulworth and Nina embrace and begin to kiss as people cheer. As Bulworth happily accepts a new campaign for the presidency, he is suddenly shot in front of the crowd of reporters and supporters by an agent of the insurance company lobbyists, who were fearful of Bulworth's recent push for single-payer health care. Bulworth's fate is left ambiguous. The final scene shows an elderly vagrant, whom Bulworth met previously, standing alone outside a hospital. He exhorts Bulworth, who is presumably inside, to not be "a ghost" but "a spirit" which, as he had mentioned earlier, can only happen if you have "a song". In the final shot of the film, he asks the same of the audience. 

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The USS Enterprise arrives at the pergium mining colony on planet Janus VI to help the colony deal with an unknown creature that has killed 50 miners and engineers, and destroyed equipment with a strong corrosive substance. Captain Kirk, Spock, and McCoy meet with the mine supervisor, Chief Engineer Vanderberg. During the briefing, Spock's attention is drawn to a silicon nodule on Vanderberg's desk, which Vanderberg dismisses as a geological oddity. They are alerted to a problem in the colony's nuclear reactor, and find its guard killed and the main circulating pump stolen. The part has long since gone out of production, so no replacements are available. Chief Engineer Scott jury rigs a substitute, but it fails shortly thereafter, necessitating the missing part be found and reinstalled before the reactor goes super-critical in 10 hours. Kirk and his security team search for the creature. Spock, suspecting it may be a silicon based lifeform, modifies their phasers to be more effective against silicon. They encounter the creature -- which has the appearance of molten rock -- and fire upon it, breaking a piece of it off. The creature flees by burrowing through a rock wall. Spock analyzes the fragment, whose composition resembles fibrous asbestos. He deduces that it burrows through solid rock by secreting the same corrosive substance that has killed the miners. Spock adjusts his tricorder to scan for silicon-based life, and confirms that the creature is the only such lifeform for miles. Kirk and Spock happen upon a chamber containing thousands of the silicon nodules. The creature causes a cave-in that separates Kirk from Spock. Though Spock urges Kirk to kill it, Kirk observes the creature backs off whenever he aims his phaser at it. Spock finds a way around the cave-in and joins Kirk. He attempts a mind meld with the creature, but perceives little but intense pain. The creature etches the ambiguous message "NO KILL I" into a rock, having gained some knowledge of human language from the meld. By making physical contact with the creature, Spock establishes a deeper mind meld. He learns that the creature is called a Horta, and that its species dies out completely every 50,000 years, save for one individual that remains alive to protect the eggs, which are the silicon nodules. As the nodule eggs hatch, the single adult Horta acts as a protectant mother to this next generation. Though nearing death because of her wound, the Horta communicates through Spock, telling them the location of the stolen pump. There Kirk also discovers thousands of broken eggs which were destroyed by the miners as worthless. The miners arrive and attempt to attack the creature. Kirk and Spock stop them, explaining that it was only protecting its eggs when it killed humans. Dr. McCoy successfully treats the Horta's wound using a silicon-based cement normally used for building emergency shelters. The miners fear the prospect of thousands of Horta, but Kirk convinces them that the Horta are peaceful and could collaborate with the miners by tunneling for them. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the Enterprise, prepare to leave orbit, and learn from Vanderberg that the eggs have hatched and already the new Horta have uncovered rich veins of pergium and other valuable metals. 

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Viewtiful Joe is divided into seven stages, or "episodes", interspersed with storyline cutscenes and bookended by an opening and ending cinematic. The setting is divided between Earth, or the real world, and "Movieland", the game's fictional world of films. The plot begins in a movie theatre on Earth in which the game's central character Joe and his girlfriend Silvia are watching a tokusatsu drama starring the aged superhero Captain Blue. The movie's antagonist, having seemingly defeated Captain Blue, suddenly reaches out of the screen and abducts Silvia, taking her into Movieland. Joe is likewise picked up and taken into Movieland by Captain Blue's giant mecha, "Six Majin". Inside the movie, Joe must rescue Silvia from the evil Jadow, the game's organization of villains. To help him, Captain Blue entrusts him with a V-Watch, a device Joe can use to transform into a superhero upon saying the word "henshin (transform)." Joe promptly does so, inventing his own catchphrase: "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!" With the guidance of Captain Blue, Joe fights his way through a number of Movieland's locations such as cities, caves, an underwater base, and a submarine, often travelling via his trusty, robot aircraft "Six Machine". One by one, Joe defeats the members of the Jadow, the game's bosses. These include Dark Fiend Charles the 3rd, Iron Ogre Hulk Davidson, Aquatic Terror Gran Bruce, a doppelgänger of Viewtiful Joe, and Blade Master Alastor. Before fighting Alastor, he reveals that in order for the Jadow to break out of Movieland and into the land of humans, they need the "DNA of the Creator", namely Silvia. Joe makes his way to her, trumping the Jadow's leader Inferno Lord Fire Leo in combat, only to witness Silvia being kidnapped once again afterwards. Joe and Six Machine race off into outer space after her in the game's final episode. Finding Silvia atop the control room of a space station, Joe discovers that Captain Blue has been behind the plot the entire time. The former hero reveals that he is the creator of the film in which they currently exist and that he is Silvia's seemingly-deceased father. Transforming into the colossal robot King Blue, the villain proclaims that he will take Sylvia's energy by force in order to break into the real world. Joe tells him off, telling him that he's no hero. Joe summons Six Majin, and the two engage in combat. When the fight ends, Captain Blue and Viewtiful Joe abandon their respective vehicles and face off in a final battle within the space station. Joe is victorious, and Captain Blue, finally coming to his senses, thanks the young hero for stopping him. He explains that two decades earlier, Blue was a revolutionary film maker who was soon thought of as a fad. Wanting nothing more than to create heroes, Blue was sucked into one of his own films, allowing him to live out his dream as a hero. However, he had lost touch with reality and wanted revenge on the people who had betrayed him. As Captain Blue and Silvia embrace in a heartfelt reunion, the director tells Joe that the story is not complete. He snaps his fingers, and the space station's onboard computer warns of a large number of UFOs heading towards Earth. Blue tells Joe that a hero will be needed twice more to save the world. Joe attempts to leave but not before Silvia requests a V-Watch from her father and to accompany her boyfriend. Viewtiful Joe and a newly transformed Silvia head out to stop the impending threat together. 

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The series has abounded with random, unexpected occurrences and surprise plot twists as result of the characters and the very makeup of the program. For example, in the episode "The Full Cognitive Redaction of Avery Bullock by the Coward Stan Smith", Steve refers to Roger for help in dealing with a school bully, Luiz. Because Steve is able to correctly predict Roger's original game plan of handling the situation himself under an alter ego, Roger throws him a curveball: he not only hires someone else, Stelio Kontos (from the episode "Bully for Steve") who was Stan's bully, to handle the matter but hires him to bully Steve so Steve's original bully Luiz won't since bullies don't want another bully's sloppy seconds. Then Luiz encouraged by Steve goes to beat up the guy that beat him up, when he finds out he is Stelio Kontos they team up with Roger and make Stelio Kontos's song adding "and Luiz ". As another example, in the episode "The Vacation Goo", Francine becomes frustrated that she cannot get the family together for Sunday night dinner. For family time, Stan suggests a vacation, and the Smiths have a great time in Maui as a family. This is up until Roger shuts down the mechanism Francine and the kids are all attached to so as to believe they are all on vacation. Francine and the kids then learn that Stan has been programming a pseudo- vacation every year in a contraption dubbed "the goo chambers". After learning of this, Francine demands they go on a real vacation. Twice they appear to do so, first skiing, then to Italy, until it is ultimately revealed that they are in the "goo chambers" all along, with Steve and then Hayley having programmed the vacations, respectively. In the episode "Spelling Bee My Baby", Steve deliberately misspells his words in a spelling bee so as to express his love for Akiko (who is also competing), instead spelling random Tyler Perry/Madea films. 

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This outline is different from the plot of the ballet version revived by Alexei Ratmansky for the Bolshoi Ballet. The ballet opens in a forest near Marseilles, where the peasant Gaspard and his children, Jeanne and Pierre, are gathering firewood. When a Count and his hunting party arrive, the peasants disperse, but Jeanne attracts the attention of the Count, who attempts to embrace her. When her father intervenes, he is beaten up by the Count's servant and taken away. Next, in the city square in Marseilles Jeanne tells the people what has happened to her father and the people's indignation over the injustices of the aristocracy grows. They storm the prison and free the prisoners of the Marquis de Beauregard. At the court of Versailles a performance of the court theatre is followed by a lush banquet. The officials of the court present a formal petition to the king, requesting permission to deal with the unruly revolutionaries. Antoine Mistral, an actor in the theatre, on discovering this secret document is killed by the Marquis de Beauregard, but before he dies he manages to pass the petition on to Mireille de Poitiers, who escapes the palace as the sound of the Marseillaise is heard through the windows. The scene shifts to a square in Paris, where an uprising and the storming of the palace is prepared. Mireille rushes in with the document revealing the conspiracy against the revolution, and her bravery is applauded. At the height of this scene, the officers of the Marquis arrive in the square; Jeanne, recognizing the man who insulted her in the woods, runs up and slaps his face. Following this, the crowd attacks the aristocrats. To the sound of revolutionary songs, the people storm the palace and burst into the staircase of the front hall. Jeanne attacks the Marquis, who is then killed by her brother, and the Basque girl Thérèse is shot to death. Finally, back in the Paris square, the people celebrate their victory over the defenders of the Old Regime. 

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The initial credits are displayed over a zoom out of Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo's The Fourth Estate. The film opens on 25 April 1945, the day Italy is liberated from the fascists. The peasants on an estate in Emilia-Romagna are shown attempting to join the partisans and place the owner of the estate, Alfredo Berlinghieri, under arrest. A middle-aged man named Attila and woman named Regina are seen attempting to flee the farm but are attacked by women labourers wielding pitchforks. The narrative moves back to the start of the century. Born on the day of the death of composer Giuseppe Verdi – 27 January 1901 – Alfredo Berlinghieri and Olmo Dalcò come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Alfredo is from a family of wealthy landowners led by his popular grandfather (also called Alfredo or Alfredo the Elder) and grows up with his cousin Regina. Olmo is an illegitimate peasant born to an unmarried young woman who already has had several children. His grandfather, Leo, is the foreman and peasants' spokesman who carries out a duel of wits with the elder Alfredo which masks a deep-seated mutual respect. As Alfredo is somewhat rebellious and despises the falseness of his family, in particular his weak but abusive and cynical father Giovanni, he befriends Olmo, who has been raised as a socialist. During this time, Leo leads strikes against the unfair conditions on the farm. The two are friends throughout their childhood, despite the social differences of their families, and spend much time in one another's company. Olmo enlists with the Italian army in 1917 during World War I and goes off to fight while Alfredo learns how to run his family's large plantation under the guidance of his father. Olmo returns from the war over a year later and his friendship with Alfredo continues. However, Giovanni, the padrone since the elder Alfredo's suicide, has hired Attila Mellanchini as his foreman. Taken with fascism in a similar way that Giovanni has been, Attila eventually incorporates his new belief system in his dealings with the Berlinghieri workers; he treats them cruelly, and wins Regina and Giovanni over to his side. In the 1920s, Olmo enters into a relationship with Anita, a down-to-earth woman who shares his enthusiasm for the cause of workers' rights. Together, Olmo and Anita lead several fervent protests against the landowners. Following the death of Giovanni, Alfredo becomes the new padrone and marries Ada, a gorgeous, demure Frenchwoman. During the 1930s, he proves to be a weak padrone, repeatedly bending to the whim of the fascists. Ada sinks into alcoholism when confronted with the reality of the emptiness of her marriage to Alfredo; she sympathises to some extent with the workers and despises Alfredo for his failure to stand up to Attila. Meanwhile, Olmo's wife Anita dies in childbirth, but manages to bring another member into the community; a daughter whom Olmo names after his late wife. Olmo's daughter, Anita the Younger, grows into a young and resourceful teenager who is supportive of her father's socialist beliefs. As Olmo takes on his fateful role of leader among the poor farmers and their families, he clashes several times with Attila. The latter, whose psychopathic tendencies have been revealed via the murders of a cat and a small boy (the latter at Alfredo and Ada's wedding and for which Olmo was initially blamed), commits further atrocities such as killing the elderly Mrs. Pioppi in order to steal her land and home. However, he becomes a fresh target of ridicule at the hands of the peasants; led by Olmo, they take turns throwing manure at him, and Alfredo fires him (although this does not win Ada's respect as he has hoped it would, and she leaves him). Olmo flees to keep from being killed by the fascists, and Attila reacts to the humiliation by tearing up Olmo's house with his blackshirts before caging the peasants on the Berlinghieri compound and indiscriminately shooting them. The story comes full circle when the power shifts after World War II in 1945, and the ruling class is at the mercy of the jovial yet bitter farm labourers. Attila and Regina, having been apprehended, are imprisoned in the Berlinghieri pigsty, and the women peasants cut off Regina's hair. Attila confesses to the murders he has committed over the years, and is put to death. Olmo returns to the farm in time to see Alfredo being brought before a workers' tribunal to stand trial. Many workers come forth and accuse Alfredo of letting them suffer in squalor while he profited from their labours. Alfredo is sentenced to death, but his execution is prevented after Olmo explains that the padrone is dead, so Alfredo Berlinghieri is alive, suggesting that the social system has been overthrown with the end of the war. As soon as the verdict is reached, however, representatives and soldiers of the new government, which includes the Communist Party, arrive and call on the peasants to turn in their arms. Olmo convinces the peasants to do so, overcoming their scepticism. Alone with Olmo, Alfredo declares "The padrone is alive", indicating the struggle between the working and ruling classes is destined to continue. The film ends with the middle-aged Alfredo and Olmo playfully tackling each other as they did in their childhood, when the scene suddenly jumps forward several years to the present day with the elderly Alfredo and Olmo walking along a railway track which Alfredo lays down in the center of the tracks as his younger self would do and lay perfectly still as a game while a train would run over the tracks, but Alfredo would emerge unharmed as he would lay perfectly still. Alfredo appears to lay himself across the tracks as a train approaches in a clear attempt at suicide as if he has chosen to end his life at that time. The final shot shows the train traveling over the younger Alfredo laying perfectly still in the center of the tracks. 

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Set in between the two World Wars, Noelle Page is born to a poor family in Marseille, France, though she is led to believe she is better than everyone else. She is initially devoted to her father, who capitalizes on her beauty when she comes of age and forces her to be the mistress of Auguste Lanchon, a well-off boutique owner. She comes to an epiphany that if she can control men, she can be powerful. She escapes to Paris, where she is enchanted by American pilot Lawrence "Larry" Douglas, who promises to marry her when he returns from London. When he does not return, she develops pneumonia, and is saved by Jewish medical intern Israel Katz, who selflessly helps her get back on her feet. Furious over Larry's betrayal, she aborts their unborn child in the most painful way and devotes the rest of her life planning revenge against him. Meanwhile, Larry returns to the United States and marries Catherine, though their relationship is strained after World War II, since Catherine feels like Larry returned as a different man. Noelle uses the war to her advantage. She hires a private investigator and learns of Larry and Catherine's marriage. She seduces two men, actor-singer Philippe Sorel and director Armand Gautier, and becomes a popular name in theater and film. At one point, she risks her plan to help Israel — the only man who has treated her with kindness — escape to Africa from the Nazis. She attracts the attention of Constantin "Costa" Demiris, a powerful Greek whose business extends to every industry in the world. She becomes his mistress and moves to his private villa. She learns that Larry is having a difficult time adjusting to a regular life and his aggressive pilot skills make him unsuited to a commercial airline setting, and convinces Demiris to hire him. Larry and Catherine move to Greece for his new job, and Noelle discovers that Larry does not even remember her. She treats him poorly as an employee, pushing him to angrily rape her when she emasculates him. She gets excited and falls in love with him again. Larry cannot recall her claims of their past, but stays with her for her power. However, he becomes unsettled when his co-pilot and his other mistress, Helena — two people compromising his and Noelle's relationship — suddenly disappear. Noelle insists that Larry and Catherine, whose marriage is at its lowest point, divorce so they can be together. When Catherine constantly refuses and fails an attempted suicide, Noelle plots to kill her. Larry abandons her in a sea cave on their trip, but is forced to return for her when the coast guard notices him exiting alone. Catherine tries to tell the doctor about Larry's plot to kill her, but the doctor thinks she is hallucinating. Catherine wakes up in the middle of the night and overhears Larry and Noelle plotting her death and she escapes during a heavy thunderstorm. She goes into a boat, but falls overboard, apparently drowning. Catherine's claims against them lead Larry and Noelle to be put on trial for her murder. Demiris is noticeably absent, but visits Noelle in jail. He claims to still love her and offers to pay the judge off if she will stay with him forever. Towards the end of the trial, Demiris' lawyer, Napoleon Chotas, informs Larry, Noelle, and Larry's lawyer Starvos that Demiris made a deal with the judge: if they plead guilty, Larry will be banned from Greece and will serve a short sentence in America while Noelle's passport will be taken and she will stay with him forever. They both agree to the deal. However, after pleading guilty, they realize that there was never a deal made when the judge thanks them for having a conscience and admitting to the murder despite the lack of evidence against them. Chotas offers Starvos a position in his firm in exchange for his silence. They are sentenced to death, and Demiris, sitting in the courtroom, looks pleased. They are executed months later. In the end, Demiris donates money to a convent near the sea, where a woman implied to be Catherine is kept, having been found on the shore. 

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The film begins with Tunin (Giancarlo Giannini) learning that his friend, an anarchist who was plotting to kill Benito Mussolini, has been killed by Mussolini's fascist police in the countryside. Tunin decides to take up the cause his friend died for. The movie then shows Tunin entering a brothel in Rome and meeting Salomè (Mariangela Melato), and the two have a casual sexual encounter. Salomè explains her reasons for helping in the assassination plot as her former lover was wrongfully beaten to death by Mussolini's police in Milan. The story continues as Salomè arranges for her, Tunin and Tripolina (Lina Polito), another prostitute at the brothel, to spend the day with Spatoletti (Eros Pagni), the head of Mussolini's police. The four of them go to the countryside near Rome where the assassination will take place in a few days' time. Salomè keeps Spatoletti busy while Tunin scouts out the area and makes a plan. Tunin takes an interest, however, in Tripolina, and they fall in love. Tunin convinces Tripolina to spend the next two days with him before the assassination as he fears they may be his last. On the morning of the assassination, Tripolina is supposed to wake Tunin early. She loves him and is scared he will die so she decides she will not wake him. Tripolina and Salomè argue about this and what to do but in the end they decide to let him sleep. Tunin wakes up and is furious at both of them, and he goes into a tirade that draws the attention of the police. He starts a shootout with them and screams that he wants to kill Mussolini. He is captured and beaten to death by the police. The film ends the way it began showing the full title of the film "Stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..." This morning at 10, on Via dei Fiori (Flowers Street), in a noted brothel which is the headline of an unnamed newspaper. The article, displaying fascist censorship, states that Tunin (who is unnamed) was arrested and then committed suicide. 

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The film follows the personal relationship between a father, Arkady Shapira (Schell), his terminally ill wife Irina (Redgrave), and his two sons, Joshua and Reuben (Roth and Furlong). Joshua, the elder, is a hit-man for the Russian-Jewish mafia in Brooklyn and estranged from his family. After finishing a contract killing, Joshua is ordered to kill an Iranian jeweler in Brighton Beach, which Joshua reluctantly accepts. Joshua stands outside his family's apartment, where he is spotted by one of his old friends Sasha, who tells Joshua's brother Reuben the next day. Reuben goes to the hotel where Joshua is staying to see him. Joshua asks Reuben how he knew he was in Brighton, and they make plans to meet again the next day. Joshua waits near the boardwalk where Sasha is and intimidates him to tell who else knows about Joshua being in Brighton. Sasha brings Joshua to the car repair stand where Viktor and Yuri are. Joshua says they will help him find the Iranian jeweler and when they refuse, Joshua threatens them. A man notices Joshua walking on the street. Joshua follows him to a phone booth and shoots him to prevent being found out in Brighton. This killing angers the neighborhood boss Boris Volkoff (Guilfoyle). Joshua starts dating his ex-girlfriend Alla (Kelly). Alla asks Reuben if he has seen Joshua anywhere and the three go together to see a movie. Eventually Reuben takes Joshua home to see his parents again, but Arkady denounces him as a murderer and kicks him out. Joshua uses information about his father's affair to see his dying mother. After reminiscing about the past, Joshua's mother asks him to go to his grandmother's birthday party, which Joshua agrees to. On the day of his grandmother's birthday party, Joshua meets with his friends to kidnap the jeweler. They take him to the dump where Joshua kills the man, then they burn the body in the furnace. They wipe the gun clean of prints and drop it near the furnace. Reuben witnesses the killing, and takes the gun from the murder scene. Arkady finds out that Reuben has been skipping school for two months and beats him. When Joshua sees the bruises on Reuben's face, he brings Arkady to a snowy field and prepares to kill him, but loses his nerve after Arkady tells him that there's nowhere left for him to go in Brighton Beach. Afterwards, Arkady gives up his son to Volkoff and Irina dies. The next day when Reuben is riding his bike, two of Volkoff's men push him to the ground and tell him that Joshua is a dead man. With the mafia looking for him, Joshua stays at Alla's. Volkoff's men look for Joshua and search Alla's neighborhood. Reuben finds out from Sasha where Joshua is and rides there on his bike to warn his brother. One of Volkoff's men finds Alla outside hanging out laundry and shoots her before escaping. Reuben finds Alla's body and shoots the second would-be assassin. Sasha arrives on the spot and sees somebody behind the sheets that Alla had hung out to dry. Without warning, Sasha shoots this person through the sheet, believing it is one of the men looking for Joshua. When he looks behind the sheet, he sees that he has killed Joshua's brother Reuben; he runs off before Joshua can show up. Afterwards Joshua finds Reuben and takes his brother's body, wrapped in the sheet, to the furnace for cremation.Variety 

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The opening of this play is "This is a simple-minded play about men who enjoy killing, and those who don't." Big-game hunter and war hero Harold Ryan returns home to America, after having been presumed dead for several years. During the war, he killed over 200 men and women, and countless more animals — for sport. He was in the Amazon Rainforest hunting for diamonds with Colonel Looseleaf Harper, a slow-witted aviation hero, who had the unhappy task of dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Harold finds that his wife Penelope has developed relationships with men very much unlike himself, including a vacuum cleaner salesman called Shuttle and a hippie doctor called Dr. Woodly, who later becomes Harold's foe. Harold also finds that his son, Paul, has been pampered and grown unmanly. Harold Ryan, the prolific killing machine, is very unsatisfied. It is set during 1960s America, and Harold feels the country has become weak, all the heroes have been replaced by intolerable pacifists, and that in postwar America, no proper enemy is available for him to vanquish. This is the story of his tragic attempt to find one. The "Wanda June" of the title is a young girl who died before she could celebrate her birthday. She was run over by an ice cream truck, but she is very pleased with her situation in Heaven, and feels that dying is a good thing and everyone in Heaven loves the person who sent them there. Her birthday cake was subsequently purchased by one of Penelope's lovers, for a celebration of Harold's birthday in his absence. Wanda June and several other deceased connections to Harold Ryan (including his ex-wife Mildred who drank herself to death because she could not stand Harold's premature ejaculation, and Major Siegfried von Konigswald, the Beast of Yugoslavia, Harold Ryan's most infamous victim) speak to the audience from Heaven, where Jesus, Judas Iscariot, Adolf Hitler, and Albert Einstein are happily playing shuffleboard. 

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After the Globe Theatre burns down in 1613 during a performance of Shakespeare's play Henry VIII, William Shakespeare, aged 49, returns home to Stratford to rejoin his wife, Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare and Anne have a distant relationship, as he has spent most of their marriage working in London, and she is a down-to-earth country woman who cannot write. Their marriage has never recovered from the death of their son Hamnet, aged 11, in a plague outbreak in Stratford while his father was in London. Although they also have two daughters, Shakespeare regarded Hamnet as his favorite child, especially because of the poems which the child wrote before his death. Shakespeare devotes his time to tending to the family garden, although in spite of his hard work he is not very successful. The Shakespeares' eldest daughter Susanna is married to a doctor named John Hall, who is a prominent Puritan in town. Susanna is forced to stifle her independence and her own personality to live by her husband's moral codes. Susanna is falsely accused of committing adultery, and faces a public trial. Shakespeare manages to terrify her accuser by claiming that he knows an African actor who was once in love with Susanna, and the actor would kill anyone who ruined her good name. As a result, the accuser recants his testimony and Susanna is found innocent. Anne is impressed by her husband's actions, especially as she knows that he was lying: the African actor was a gentle person who would never harm anyone. Shakespeare's youngest daughter, Judith (Hamnet's twin), is outspoken in her doubts about the role of women in Jacobean England. She has not been allowed to have an education or opportunities in life, because it is expected she will marry and provide children. As a result, Judith has refused to marry, and is bitter at her father for not loving her as much as her dead brother. One night during an argument, Judith confesses to Shakespeare that she actually wrote the poems, not her brother. They were written in Hamnet's handwriting because Judith is illiterate, and thus had to dictate them to her brother. Anne agrees that Hamnet was not especially intelligent, and that they have hidden this from Shakespeare so he would be able to keep his fond memories. The Shakespeares receive a visit from the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's former literary patron, to whom he wrote his 154 sonnets. This upsets Anne; she is aware of rumors that her husband and Southampton were lovers. While drinking with Southampton, Shakespeare recites his Sonnet 29, expressing his feelings for Southampton and hoping that Southampton felt the same way about him. Southampton cuts off the conversation, and seems uncomfortable, but as he leaves he also recites Sonnet 29, indicating to Shakespeare that he did have feelings for him. After some time at home, Shakespeare and Anne grow closer and develop a mature relationship. Anne ultimately allows her husband to sleep with her in the family's second-best bed (the best bed is reserved for guests). Having fallen back in love with Anne, Shakespeare amends his last will and testament to make sure that she will receive this bed. Now that the truth has been told about the poems, Judith also develops a warmer relationship with her father. She agrees to marry a local man, Thomas Quiney, who has been her suitor for some time. However Quiney's reputation is damaged when his former sweetheart gives birth to his illegitimate child, and the baby dies during labor. Judith becomes pregnant to Quiney, much to Shakespeare's delight. While researching, Shakespeare discovers that there was no notable plague outbreak in 1596, the year that Hamnet died. He becomes suspicious and questions his family. Anne tries to convince him that Hamnet died of plague, but Judith confesses the truth. One day as a child, Judith told her brother that she was going to reveal the truth to their father, that Hamnet did not write the poems. That night, Hamnet went missing. He was found in a nearby lake, having drowned, with the copies of the poems in the water with him. Hamnet never went in the lake, and so Anne and Judith suspect he committed suicide. The women covered it up, and told everyone that the boy had died of plague. Although it is an emotional revelation, the truth allows Shakespeare to finally come to terms with his son's death, and to accept a more honest memory of the boy. In April 1616, Shakespeare's fellow playwright Ben Jonson visits him and they reminisce about their lives. On the 23rd of April, Shakespeare's fifty-second birthday, he is feeling unwell. His wife and daughters gather to present him with a surprise. Susanna has been teaching Anne and Judith how to read and write. Susanna has found the Shakespeares' marriage certificate, and Anne finally signs her name, where previously she had only been able to sign with an "X". Shakespeare dies that day. At his funeral, the three women recite the song "Fear No More" from Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. They are now all able to read. 

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Bob Roberts takes place in Pennsylvania in 1990. It depicts a fictitious senatorial race between a conservative Republican folk singer, Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins), and the incumbent Democrat, Brickley Paiste (Gore Vidal). The film is shot through the perspective of Terry Manchester (Brian Murray), a British documentary filmmaker who is following the Roberts campaign. Through his lens we see Roberts travel across the state, performing songs about drug users, lazy people and the triumph of traditional family values over the rebelliousness of the 1960s. As the campaign continues, Paiste remains in the lead until a scandal arises involving him and a young woman who was seen emerging from a car with him. Paiste claims that she was a friend of his granddaughter whom he was driving home, but he cannot shake the accusations. Throughout the campaign, reporter Bugs Raplin (Giancarlo Esposito) attempts to use the documentary being made about Roberts as a way to expose him to the public as a fraud. Raplin believes that Roberts' anti-drug charity, Broken Dove, is connected to an old Central Intelligence Agency drug trafficking scheme. As the election approaches, Roberts is asked to appear on a network's sketch comedy show. When Roberts announces that he will not be playing the song he had originally proposed, a dispute breaks out between the cast and producers of the show. This new song turns out to be nothing more than a thinly veiled campaign endorsement, and an angry staff member of the network pulls the plug mid-performance. As Roberts is leaving the studio, he is seemingly shot by a would-be assassin. Raplin, who has been causing problems for the campaign, is initially linked to the shooting, but he is later cleared when it is found that due to constrictive palsy in his right hand he physically could not have fired the gun. Following the incident, Raplin contends that Roberts was never actually shot and that the gun was fired into the ground. The campaign is boosted by public support following the assassination attempt, and Roberts wins the election with 52 percent of the vote. Although Roberts claims that his wounds have left him paralyzed from the waist down, he is seen tapping his feet at a celebration party. While Terry Manchester is interviewing Roberts' supporters outside the new senator's hotel, a boy runs up shouting, "He's dead, he's dead, they got him!" When Manchester asks him what he is talking about, the boy shouts, "Bugs Raplin! He's dead! They got him!" A joyful celebration breaks out among Roberts' supporters, the shot changes to an image of his hotel room, and an upright walking shadow suggesting Roberts' profile passes the window before the lights go out. The film ends with a radio news report about Raplin's death at the hands of a right-wing fanatic and a shot of Manchester standing in the Jefferson Memorial, looking at the words, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man", inscribed there. 

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Comedian Albert Brooks (played by himself) leads a documentary film project meant to encapsulate the joys, sorrows and intimacy of real life by filming a regular american family at all times for a full year using expensive cameras: some installed on walls and four large helmet-like ones worn by a small camera crew that follows Brooks and the family in and out of their neighboring homes (a regular film crew is hired by the studio but aren’t needed.) After countless testing, two families are declared ‘’perfect’’: the Feltons and the Yeagers. Brooks tells the audience that the Feltons are the clear pick because they live in Wisconsin and the Yeagers live in Arizona. The studio picks the Yeagers. The Yeagers are sent on vacation and filming starts as soon as they arrive back at the airport, causing immediate nervousness in the family. Brooks takes an hour off to do antiquing while the Yeagers have pizza and argue about rules at the dinner table. The father, Warren, makes a few unsympathetic remarks and ends up eating alone. Doctors Howard Hill and Ted Cleary are there to observe the project’s integrity and progress. Cleary does not appreciate Brooks’ intrusive method of constantly filming the family, worrying that their hold of reality is being threatened. The mother, Jeanette, leaves the house without cameras to unwind and meets Brooks later to thank him by inviting him to an appointment at the gynecologist. Brooks is thrilled until Jeanette kisses him, which he dislikes. He warns her that he’s no better than her husband and that his charisma ‘’doesn’t run deep.’’ The gynecologist refuses to be on camera because of a damning news story that ran about him years ago. Brooks offers him $500 to accept but then recognizes the man as ‘’the baby broker’’ from the news story and the deal is off. Warren brings the crew to witness a day at his work as a veterinarian. Being nervous from the cameras, he starts surgery on a horse by accidentally ordering an anesthetic drug twice and killing the animal instantly. He asks Brooks to not show the footage in the film but Brooks won’t sign off on that. Jeannette’s grandmother also dies and the family enters a deep depression. In trying to cheer the family up, Brooks invites Jeanette to a dinner date which she declines, having changed her mind on her attraction to him. Brooks then shows up to the house in a clown costume to cheer the kids but they are at school. While still in costume, Brooks is asked to sit down with Warren and Jeannette, where Warren confesses to feeling a nervous breakdown. Brooks is dismissive of the claim, saying that it’s okay to be sad and confused as long as you don’t ‘’clam up’’. After a meeting with the doctors, some scientists from the institute and an old-timey film producer obsessed with getting movie stars involved, Dr. Cleary leaves the project, disapproving of how the family is being treated. The family return to a happier, more harmonious lifestyle until Cleary’s book on the project is published, calling it ‘’mind-control’’ and ‘’psychological rape’’. The book attracts attention on the family from newscasters, much to the anger of Brooks and the discomfort of the Yeagers. Another meeting with Dr. Hill, the institute and the film producer calls for the termination of the project. Brooks brings The Yeagers to the meeting and, to his surprise, they also want to end the project. Despite his pleas and threats for them to stay, they do not change their minds and the producer calls for the Yeagers to be paid anyway to apologize for the stress they endured. Brooks suggests to start the project over with the Feltons back in Wisconsin but is turned down by the producer. While dressing back into the clown costume for a benefit at a children’s hospital, Brooks starts losing his mind over the project. In a desperate attempt to find a solid ending to the film, Brooks recalls the endings of famous films and picks Gone With The Wind as the one he should copy. He burns down the Yeagers house with elation in front of them, the camera crew and the scientists. No one is harmed. An epilogue is presented in text form saying that the house was rebuilt with a tennis court added for ‘appreciation’, that Dr. Cleary’s book sold poorly and he is now ill. Real- life historians are invited to call 1-800-555-3824, should they want documentation on the project. 

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Mick (Darren Healy) and Kev (Niall O'Shea) spend a late afternoon near railroad tracks by the seaside where Mick teaches Kev how to "shotgun" beer for reasons then unknown to the viewer. He observes that Kev is "a bit of a wuss" after he fails to replicate the proper shotgunning technique and calls for Kev to come sit close to him for a test of courage, the knife game, which involves stabbing a knife between outstretched fingers at an ever-faster rate. The game is usually played with one person's hand at a time and as a gesture of what may be seen as self-sacrifice, Mick puts his hand over Kev's in order to shield Kev's hand from the brunt of an injury should it occur. When a train speeds by them, Mick accidentally cuts Kev and himself very slightly with the knife. They clasp each other's hands tightly and Mick, who suddenly seems very insecure and in need of affection is lovingly embraced by Kev, who perhaps has known all along why Mick brought him here. A single screen of credits appears, then the film ends with a brief shot of the two in silhouette, standing apart, watching the sun set over the ocean. 

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The book picks up the story nine months after the end of Rama II. The book follows the story of three astronauts from the expedition in Rama II who were trapped aboard the cylindrical alien spacecraft, Rama II, heading out towards deep space. Along the journey, five children were born. Simone Tiasso Wakefield, Catharine Colin Wakefield, Eleanor Joan Wakefield, Benjamin Ryan O'Toole and Patrick Erin O'Toole, were born by Nicole des Jardins from her relationships with Richard Wakefield and Michael O'Toole. These children later become major characters in Rama Revealed. After a twelve- year journey, they arrive in the vicinity of the star Sirius, where all eight rendezvous with a Raman Node. At the Node they are subjected to physiological tests for a year while Rama is refurbished, and they are eventually sent back to the solar system, this time to collect two thousand more representatives of humanity. An Earth agency, known as the ISA, receives the message from Rama requesting two thousand humans. Upon its reception, the message is kept secret and, under the guise of a new Martian colony, the ISA starts acquiring its payload. The ISA selects a handful of their own representatives; meanwhile, they selectively gather convicts and promise them freedom if they are chosen to be a colonist. The payload is subdivided into three ships: the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria (names based on Christopher Columbus's ships Niña, Pinta, and Santa María) that arrive sequentially at Rama. At this point the colonists believe everything is a hoax (despite the colossal size of Rama) created by the ISA. With that discontent as the tone upon their arrival, Rama III heads back to deep space with its new payload. Soon an aggressive group of humans, led by a mob boss, seizes control of the human colony and begins a war of annihilation and propaganda against one of the other races occupying the massive spacecraft. The original astronauts and their children find themselves powerless to prevent the genocide. However, the aggressive behavior of the human species does not go unnoticed: Another species, unknown to the humans, observe their behavior and start considering a possible counterattack. Meanwhile, Rama III determines that total escalation of the conflict is imminent and transmits an emergency signal to its ancient constructors. The book ends with a cliffhanger, on the eve of the execution of one of the original astronauts. 

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Three years after the events of the original Metal Gear, FOXHOUND discovers that a hostile nation in the Middle East may have gotten a hold of the plans for Metal Gear and are secretly constructing a new model. Lt. Solid Snake, the FOXHOUND operative responsible for the destruction of Metal Gear, is given orders to lead a three-man team to the enemy's base consisting of himself and two fellow operatives: John Turner, a former Navy Intelligence agent and infiltration pro; and Nick Myer, a weapons and explosive expert formerly with the Marines. The codename of the mission is Operation 747. Snake infiltrates the enemy's jungle base with the help of John, who acts as a decoy by allowing himself to be captured. Snake eventually learns that the enemy is transporting their weapons, a set of mass-produced Metal Gear tanks, on a cargo ship. Snake blows up the ship's ammunition cache and escapes with the help of the team's helicopter pilot while the ship sinks. The pilot informs Snake that the enemy has a prototype of the new Metal Gear 2 model in their main base and is told to contact their double agent, Jennifer, on the inside. As Snake goes deep into the base, he defeats an impostor posing as John, regains contact with Nick and eventually comes in touch with Jennifer, who reveals that the enemy commander is planning to launch nukes around the face of the globe. However, as Snake approaches the commander's lair, Nick is mortally wounded and dies, while Jennifer is exposed as a spy and gets captured. Snake confronts the enemy's commander, who reveals himself to be a cybernetically enhanced Big Boss, having survived his previous encounter with Snake. Snake defeats Big Boss and rescues Jennifer, who shows him to the storage facility where Metal Gear 2 is located. Snake destroys the weapon before its launch countdown is completed. In the aftermath of Operation 747, the United Nations declares "World Peace Day". John Turner is declared missing in action and removed from Navy records, while Nick Myer is awarded three posthumous promotions. 

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Monroe as Pola, Grable as Loco, and Bacall as Schatze Resourceful Schatze Page, spunky Loco Dempsey, and ditzy Pola Debevoise rent a luxurious Sutton Place penthouse in New York City from Freddie Denmark, who is avoiding the IRS by living in Europe. The women plan to use the apartment to attract rich men and marry them. When money is tight, Schatze pawns some of Freddie's furniture, without his knowledge. To their dismay, as winter approaches, the furnishings continue to be sold off as they have no luck. One day, Loco carries in some groceries, assisted by Tom Brookman. Tom is very interested in Schatze, but she dismisses him, thinking he is poor. She tries repeatedly to brush him off as she sets her sights on the charming, classy widower J.D. Hanley, whose worth is irreproachably large. All the while she is stalking the older J.D., Tom, who is actually very wealthy, keeps after her. After every single one of their dates, she tells him she never wants to see him again as she refuses to marry a poor man again. Pola being romanced by a phony tycoon, played by Alexander D'Arcy Meanwhile, Loco becomes acquainted with a grumpy businessman, Walter Brewster. He is married, but she agrees to go with him to his lodge in Maine, mistakenly thinking she is going to meet a bunch of Elks Club members. When they arrive, Loco is disappointed to find that the businessman was hoping to have an affair with her and set them up in a dingy lodge instead of the glamorous one she was expecting. She attempts to leave, but has to stay due to the train not running till the next day and comes down with the measles. After Loco recovers, Walter (Clark) comes down with the measles and has to stay in the lodge until cured. He is nursed back to health with the help of Loco. Loco meets Evan Salem, who she thinks owns most of the surrounding land. She has no trouble transferring her affections to the handsome outdoorsman and they become engaged. When she finds out that he is just a forest ranger, she is very disappointed, but Loco realizes that she loves him and is willing to overlook his financial shortcomings. William Powell as J.D. Hanley prepares to marry Schatze, with Loco and Pola as bridesmaids. The third member of the group, Pola, has myopia, but hates to wear her glasses in the presence of men; as she puts it, "Men aren't attentive to girls who wear glasses." She falls for a phony Arab oil tycoon, J. Stewart Merrill, not knowing he is actually a crooked speculator. Luckily, when she takes a plane from LaGuardia Airport to meet him, she ends up on the wrong plane. A man sits next to her, also wearing glasses, who thinks she is "quite a strudel" and encourages her to put hers on. It turns out that he is the mysterious Freddie Denmark on his way to Kansas City to find the crooked accountant who got him into trouble with the IRS. He does not have much luck when he tracks the man down, but he and Pola fall in love and get married. Loco and Pola are reunited with Schatze just before her wedding to J.D. Schatze finds herself unable to go through with the wedding and confesses to J.D. that she is in love with Tom. He understands and agrees to call off the wedding. Tom is among the wedding attendees and the two reconcile and marry, with Schatze still not knowing he is rich. Afterwards, the three happy couples end up at a greasy spoon, dining on hamburgers. Schatze jokingly asks Evan and Freddie about their financial prospects, which are slim. When she finally gets around to Tom, he casually admits a net worth of around $200 million, and lists an array of holdings, which none of the others appear to take seriously. He then calls for the check, pulls out an enormous wad of money, and pays with a $1,000 bill, telling the chef to keep the change. The three astonished women faint dead away onto the floor. Tom then proposes the men drink a toast to their unconscious wives. 

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The novel revolves around the mishaps of its narrator, Fred Trumper, a floundering late-twenty-something graduate student with serious commitment and honesty issues that earn him the nickname "Bogus." The novel shows Irving beginning to develop a blend of comedy and pathos, as well as a penchant for fashioning quirky characters. It follows a non-linear narrative in the form of a sort of 'confession' authored by Trumper, who humorously recounts his various failures in life and love, from his New England childhood through his experiences on foreign study in Vienna, Austria, and as a graduate student in Iowa, leading up to the present-action setting, early-1970s New York, where Trumper is attempting to sever himself from his adolescent past. "I want to change", Trumper says at the end of Chapter One. The phrase seems to be the novel's central theme. The title refers to a method prescribed to Trumper for the treatment of non-specific urological disorders relating to his abnormally narrow urinary tract. Trumper's urologist, Dr. Jean Claude Vigneron, offers him three options for the treatment of his disorder: abstinence from sex and alcohol, a painful operation to widen the urinary canal, or the Water Method, which consists simply of consuming abnormal quantities of water before and after sex to flush bacteria out of the urinary tract. Trumper opts for the Water Method, suggesting both his generally comical cowardice and lack of self-discipline. Trumper's narration meanders through flashbacks revolving around his relationships with the novel's two primary female characters: Sue "Biggie" Kunft, a former championship downhill skier whom Trumper courts, impregnates, and marries in Vienna while still a student, and Tulpen, Trumper's present day live-in girlfriend, a documentary film editor in New York, where he lands after losing Biggie. Though the two relationships function chiefly as a means of demonstrating Bogus Trumper's tendency to repeat his mistakes, Irving is often noted for his strong, independent female characters, and Tulpen and Biggie can be seen as markers in the development of the strong women in his more popularly successful novels, particularly The World According to Garp (1979). Other characters include Trumper's best childhood friend Couth, a still-photographer; Merrill Overturf, an alcoholic and diabetic loon Trumper befriends in Vienna; Ralph Packer, a pretentious documentary filmmaker who employs Trumper as a sound editor; and Colm, Trumper's young son from his first marriage to Biggie. Trumper is a graduate student at the University of Iowa in comparative literature whose thesis is to be a translation of an ancient, "Old Low Norse" epic called "Akthelt and Gunnel". Irving employs the "Akthelt and Gunnel" poem as a means for allowing Trumper to poke merciless fun at himself through analogously inventing the story of the poem according to his own life's mishaps. Category:1972 American novels Category:Novels by John Irving Category:Random House books Category:Nonlinear narrative novels 

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The story begins on the Isle of Wight, 25 years after the events from The Day of the Triffids. The community there has thrived, primarily by refining triffid oil into fuel. One morning, a solar blackout occurs and triffids once again besiege the island. Pilot David Masen (son of Bill and Josella Masen from The Day of the Triffids) takes to the skies to investigate the cause of the blackout; however, even after taking his plane into the atmosphere as high as it can go, he finds that there is no end to the absolute darkness. On David's descent, he loses communication with the control tower and is forced to make a crash landing on a floating island populated by triffids. There, he meets an orphaned young girl, Christina, who has been surviving on her own in the wild since she was a young child, primarily because she is immune to triffid stings. The pair are rescued by an American ship that takes them to Manhattan Island in New York City. Manhattan, a secure and self-contained community like the one on the Isle of Wight, appears at first glance to be a utopia seemingly untouched by the triffid catastrophe. David quickly falls in love with his tour guide, Kerris Baedekker, who is one of the hundreds of daughters of General Fielding, the primary ruler of the city. David divulges to General Fielding that the Isle of Wight has a considerable fleet of aircraft, which, using triffid oil for fuel, can fly much farther than the Manhattan fleet that runs on wood alcohol. Just before David is set to return home to the Isle of Wight, he is kidnapped by a rebel group known as the Forresters. However, David ends up siding with them when they reveal that Fielding is actually a terrible dictator named Torrence, an old enemy of David's father, and that he keeps Manhattan prosperous by using the black and blind citizens as slaves, unbeknownst to the rest of the population. The Forresters further reveal that Torrence is planning to attack the Isle of Wight in order to steal their triffid oil refining machinery and that he intends to create a race of soldiers immune to triffid poison by harvesting Christina's ovaries and implanting them into all the viable women in Manhattan. In order to rescue Christina and Kerris from Torrence's headquarters in the Empire State Building, the Forresters unleash thousands of triffids into the city, some as gigantic as sixty feet tall. Unfortunately, Torrence and his guards manage to fend off the attacks and capture David and his group. However, Torrence is defeated when thousands of slaves arrive, released from their slave camps during the triffid attack, and convince the soldiers to turn on the dictator. At the end of the story, it is revealed that the great blackout was caused by interstellar dust, and that even though it continues to wreak havoc on the global climate, people everywhere are still surviving. It is also revealed that up to 25 percent of the population is immune to triffid stings, due to repeated exposure to small amounts of the plant's poison when consuming triffids for food. 

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In 1784, shortly after the United States wins its independence, American Peter Standish (Leslie Howard) sails from New York to England to marry his cousin. Upon hearing of a Frenchman crossing the English Channel in a balloon, Peter regrets that he will not be able to see the marvels the future has in store. In 1933, his descendant, also named Peter Standish (Leslie Howard again), unexpectedly inherits a house in Berkeley Square, London. He becomes increasingly obsessed with his ancestor's diary, causing his fiancée Marjorie Frant (Betty Lawford) great concern. When they have tea with the American ambassador (Samuel S. Hinds), Peter confides to the diplomat with eager anticipation his conviction that he will be transported back 149 years at 5:30 that day. Peter is convinced that all he needs to do is follow his ancestor's diary, since he already knows what happens, from reading it. He rushes home, and just as he opens the door, he is indeed back in 1784, taking the place of the earlier Peter Standish just as he arrives at the house, then owned by his relations, the Pettigrews. Lady Ann (Irene Browne), and her grown offspring, Tom (Colin Keith-Johnston), Kate (Valerie Taylor) and Helen (Heather Angel) are there to greet him. The Pettigrews, being in desperate financial straits, are anxious for Kate to marry the wealthy American. Peter is determined not to alter the future he has read about, until he sees Helen for the first time. He tries to fight his attraction to her, but ultimately fails. Helen, meanwhile, is being pressed by her mother to marry Mr. Throstle (Ferdinand Gottschalk), but, Helen has determined, even before Peter's arrival, not to marry. She later confesses to Peter, that she had been dreaming of him, before she saw him. As time goes on, Peter keeps inadvertently giving offense with his unfamiliarity with 18th century customs. People also begin to fear him, as he blunders and speaks of things which have not yet taken place. For example, when he commissions Sir Joshua Reynolds to paint his portrait, he praises another Reynolds work by name, one the painter has only just begun. Kate becomes convinced that Peter is demonically possessed and breaks their engagement. Helen, however, is sympathetic to his difficulties, and falls in love with him. Helen eventually presses Peter for an explanation of his "second sight", which he has only hinted at. Though he refuses to speak openly, she somehow sees in his eyes visions of his modern world, with all its horrors as well as its marvels, and guesses the truth. Knowing he has become disillusioned, living among ghosts born 149 years before his time, and desperately unhappy with the day-to-day realities of her era (including a lack of hygiene and plumbing, and not bathing regularly in what he calls a "filthy little pigsty of a world"), she urges him to return to his own time. He wants to stay with her regardless of the consequences, but in the end, he does go back to 1933. When he visits Helen's grave, he learns that she died on June 15, 1787 at the age of 23. Marjorie comes to see him, worried about his sanity because he has been saying that he is from the 18th century. Peter believes his ancestor had switched places with him. He tells her he cannot marry her. Peter is consoled by the epitaph on Helen's grave, and her conviction that they will be together, "not in my time, nor in yours, but in God's". 

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In the year 2120,The page 09, Super Dimension show information booklet Volume 08, published by IMAI kagaku. Retrieved July 2016.My Anime April page 52 press release, the third Super Dimension show "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross". Retrieved July 2016.Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, My Anime features - Robotech Chronicles - ( 超時空騎団サザンクロス・故マイアニメ記事 - ロボテック・クロニクル - ) . Retrieved July 2016. humanity has left the Solar System and started the colonization of other planets. One of the farthest colonies is located on the terraformed planet Glorie. The powerful army of the Southern Cross protects the colonists there from any unknown dangers. However, unbeknownst to the humans, Glorie is also the ancestral home of the Zor, a highly advanced race of nomadic humanoid aliens who have returned to reclaim their world. 

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The book is divided into five interconnected chapters, which read like short stories. 

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The novel centres on Charlotte Heywood, the eldest of the daughters still at home in the large family of a country gentleman from Willingden, Sussex. The narrative opens when the carriage of Mr and Mrs Parker of Sanditon topples over on a hill near the Heywood home. Because Mr Parker is injured in the crash, and the carriage needs repairs, the Parkers stay with the Heywood family for a fortnight. During this time, Mr Parker talks fondly of Sanditon, a town which until a few years before had been a small, unpretentious fishing village. With his business partner, Lady Denham, Mr Parker hopes to make Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort. Mr Parker's enormous enthusiasm for his plans to improve and modernise Sanditon has resulted in the installation of bathing machines and the construction of a new home for himself and his family near the seashore. Upon repair of the carriage and improvement to Mr Parker's foot, the Parkers return to Sanditon, bringing Charlotte with them as their summer guest. Upon arrival in Sanditon, Charlotte meets the inhabitants of the town. Prominent among them is Lady Denham, a twice-widowed woman who received a fortune from her first husband and a title from her second. Lady Denham lives with her poor niece Clara Brereton, who is a sweet and beautiful, yet impoverished, young lady. Also living in Sanditon are Sir Edward Denham and his sister Esther, Lady Denham's nephew and niece by her second husband. The siblings are poor and are thought to be seeking Lady Denham's fortune. Sir Edward is described as a silly and very florid man, though handsome. After settling in with the Parkers and encountering the various neighbours, Charlotte and Mr and Mrs Parker are surprised by a visit from his two sisters and younger brother, all of whom are self-declared invalids. However, given their level of activity and seeming strength, Charlotte quickly surmises that their complaints are invented. Diana Parker has come on a mission to secure a house for a wealthy family from the West Indies, although she has not specifically been asked for her aid. She also brings word of a second large party, a girls' school, which is intending to summer at Sanditon. This news causes a stir in the small town, especially for Mr Parker, whose fondest wish is the promotion of tourism in the town. With the arrival of Mrs Griffiths at Sanditon, it soon becomes apparent that the family from the West Indies and the girls' school group are one and the same. The visitors consist of Miss Lambe, a "half mulatto" rich young woman of about seventeen from the West Indies, and the two Miss Beauforts, common English girls. In short order, Lady Denham calls on Mrs Griffiths to be introduced to Miss Lambe, the very sickly and very rich heiress that she intends her nephew Sir Edward to marry. A carriage unexpectedly arrives bearing Sidney Parker, the second eldest Parker brother. He will be staying in town for a few days with two friends who will join him shortly. Sidney Parker is about 28 or 29 years old, and Charlotte finds him very good-looking with a decided air of fashion. The book fragment ends when Mrs Parker and Charlotte visit Sanditon House, Lady Denham's residence. There Charlotte spots Clara Brereton seated with Sir Edward Denham at her side having an intimate conversation in the garden and surmises that they must have a secret understanding. When they arrive inside, Charlotte observes that a large portrait of Sir Henry Denham hangs over the fireplace, whereas Lady Denham's first husband, who owned Sanditon House, only gets a miniature in the corner — obliged to sit back in his own house and see the best place by the fire constantly occupied by Sir Henry Denham. 

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Antoine and Colette catches up with Antoine as a solitary 17-year-old who works at Philips manufacturing LPs to support himself. He lives in a furnished room by himself in Place Clichy,, Stafford, Jef. "Antoine and Colette". Turner Classic Movies website. Retrieved on 2009-04-09. listening to opera and classical music and spending time with René (Patrick Auffay), his school friend from The 400 Blows. One day, while attending a Berlioz Music Programme with René, he spots Colette (Marie-France Pisier), a secondary school student, and falls in love for the first time. Colette is his own age, but unlike Antoine has a warm, supportive family with whom she still lives. Antoine forms a strong friendship with Colette and, eventually, also her parents who begin to treat him as if he were a part of their family. Colette's feelings for Antoine are at first ambiguous and, harbouring some hope that she might grow to return them, he leaves his apartment at the Place Clichy and moves into an apartment across the road from her family's. Although she continues to treat him kindly, it slowly becomes apparent that she is not interested in him romantically. He sulks about this and at first refuses to see her, but he is lured back by a dinner invitation. It is clear that her family still consider him a surrogate son and are possibly hoping for something romantic to happen between the two teenagers. All of these hopes are dashed, however, when the pretty Colette is met at the front door by an older man. Her parents and Antoine look helplessly on as she disappears off with her date. They are all left to watch television. Doinel's adventures follow with Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board and Love on the Run. 

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In the year 2056, time travel has become a practical reality, and the company Time Safari Inc. offers wealthy adventurers the chance to travel back in time to hunt extinct species such as dinosaurs. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back 66 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, on a guided safari to kill a Tyrannosaurus rex. As the party waits to depart, they discuss the recent presidential elections in which an apparently fascist candidate, Lyman, has been defeated by his opponent Keith, to the relief of many concerned. When the party arrives in the past, Travis (the hunting guide) and Lesperance (Travis's assistant) warn Eckels and the two other hunters, Billings and Kramer, about the necessity of minimizing the events they change before they go back, since even the smallest alterations to the distant past could snowball into catastrophic changes in history. Travis explains that the hunters are obliged to stay on a levitating path to avoid disrupting the environment, that any deviation will be punished with hefty fines, and that prior to the hunt, Time Safari scouts had been sent back to select and tag their prey, which would have died within minutes anyway, and whose death has been calculated to have minimal effect on the future. Although Eckels is initially excited about the hunt, when the monstrous Tyrannosaurus approaches, he loses his nerve. Travis tells him to go back to the time machine, but Eckels panics, steps off the path and stumbles into the forest. Eckels hears shots, and on his return, he sees that the two guides have killed the dinosaur, and shortly afterward the falling tree that would have killed the T. rex has landed on top of it. Realizing that Eckels has fallen off the path, Travis threatens to leave him in the past unless he removes the bullets from the dinosaur's body, as they cannot be left behind. Eckels obeys, but Travis remains furious, threatening on the return trip to shoot him. Upon returning to 2056, Eckels notices subtle changes: English words are now spelled and spoken strangely, people behave differently, and Eckels discovers that Lyman has won the election instead of Keith. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed butterfly, whose death has apparently caused a rift in the timeline that has affected the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned. He frantically pleads with Travis to take him back into the past to undo the damage, but Travis had previously explained that the time machine cannot return to any point in time that it has already visited (so as to prevent any paradoxes). Travis raises his gun, and there is "a sound of thunder." 

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In upstate New York, a waste management firm loads barrels of toxic waste onto trucks, intending to illegally dispose of them at a site in New Jersey. They are shown heading into the Holland Tunnel along with several commuters, including struggling playwright Maddy Thompson (Amy Brenneman), a bus of juvenile offenders, a vacationing family, an elderly couple with a dog, and sporting goods retailer Roy Nord (Viggo Mortensen). Meanwhile, a gang of robbers grabs gems from a gem buyer after mugging him and takes his car to escape the NYPD by racing into the tunnel. The gang force their way through the north tube traffic, where the driver loses control, smashing though a security booth and into one of the trucks, causing it to detonate, and resulting in a sympathetic detonation of the remaining trucks. The tunnel entrances cave in, and a devastating fireball sweeps through the tunnel, incinerating the majority of the motorists within it. About to enter the Manhattan end of the tunnel, former New York City Emergency Medical Services Chief Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone), now working as a taxi driver, witnesses the fireball erupting from the entrance. While racing to help whoever he can he runs into an old EMS colleague, who tells him that the tunnel is severely damaged, and could come down if any wrong moves are made. Kit then checks with tunnel administrators, and finds that most of the old exits have been sealed off or are considered unsafe. Kit makes his way into the tunnel through the ventilation system, risking his life as the massive fans can only be slowed down for a short time. A group of the survivors trapped inside band around Nord, who believes he can find a way out through the mid-river passage, a service corridor running between the north and south tubes. Kit arrives and finds Nord, warning him that the passage could come down at any moment, but Nord dismisses the possibility. Kit barely escapes as the mid-river collapses, killing Nord, and causing another explosion which kills a juvenile offender. Water begins seeping in from the river above, and Kit uses an explosive to stop the leak. Police officer George Tyrell (Stan Shaw) returns from investigating the Manhattan end and is crushed under a truck as the road shifts. The group manage to free him before he can drown, but he is left with a broken neck. The water level continues to rise and the angry survivors confront Kit. He claims he can slow it down but not stop it, as the clean-up effort on the Manhattan side of the tunnel is causing water to enter their side. Kit recalls that there are sleeping quarters beside the tunnels (left over from the tunnel's construction) and asks George how to access them. Kit finds one by swimming under a security booth, and leads the group to this area, but George has to be left behind. He gives Kit a bracelet intended for his girlfriend Grace (Vanessa Bell Calloway), and tells him to "get them to daylight". Eleanor (Claire Bloom), one of the elder survivors, is distressed that her late son's dog Cooper is missing. She refuses to go on, then suddenly yet quietly passes away, presumably from hypothermia. The group moves to another room as the first one floods, convincing Eleanor's husband Roger (Colin Fox) to come with them. As they reach the top of an old wooden staircase, Kit notices Cooper swimming in the water below and dives down to rescue him, passing him up to one of the survivors, but a beam falls and destroys the lower half, sending Kit into the water. Maddy tries to help Kit up, but she falls as well, as more of the staircase is knocked down. The main group escape through a manhole into daylight while the corridor caves in behind them, but not before one of the survivors takes a flashlight from his daughter and tosses it to Kit, leaving Kit and the hysterical Maddy behind. Kit and Maddy swim around looking for a possible way out, with the main highway tunnel now almost completely submerged. Kit realizes he will have to use his explosives to cause a "blow out" and rip the tunnel roof open. A mass of mud crushes Kit and Maddy tries to pull him out. The blast forces Maddy towards the surface, but Kit gets stuck in the mud. Maddy finds a barely conscious Kit and keeps him afloat, as a boat discovers them offshore. Lying on a stretcher, Kit sees Grace in the crowd and hands her George's bracelet. Maddy insists on riding with him in the ambulance, to which Kit replies "on one condition; we gotta take the bridge." 

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The film is told through pansori, a traditional Korean form of storytelling that seeks to narrate through song. It is based on Chunhyangga, a traditional Korean folktale and is set in 18th century Korea. Lee Mongryong, a governor's son, falls in love and marries a beautiful girl Chunhyang Sung, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown Lee if he found that his son married beneath him. The governor gets posted to Seoul and Mongryong is forced to leave his young wife behind, promising to come back for her when he passes the official exam. After Mongryong leaves Namwon where Mongryong and Chunhyang first meets, new governor, Byun Hakdo, comes and wants Chunhyang for himself. When she refuses, stating that she already has a husband and will forever remain faithful to her beloved, the governor punishes her by flogging. Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Lee passes the test with the highest score and becomes an officer. Three years have passed and Lee Mongryong returns to the town on the King's mission. There, he finds out that his wife is to be beaten to death on the governor's birthday as a punishment for disobeying his lust. The governor, very corrupted and greedy, is arrested by Mongryong. The two lovers are finally united. 

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Each story is five chapters long and they offer a significant interplay between narrative plots. "Wild Palms" tells the story of Harry and Charlotte, who meet, fall in forbidden love, travel the country together for work, and, ultimately, experience tragedy when the abortion Harry performs on Charlotte kills her. "Old Man" is the story of a convict who, while being forced to help victims of a flood, rescues a pregnant woman. They are swept away downstream by the flooding Mississippi, and she gives birth to a baby. He eventually gets both himself and the woman to safety and then turns himself in, returning to prison. 

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In Heaven, angels are tasked with ensuring that mortals on Earth find love. The "Captain", Gabriel, is upset at reviewing the file of angel partners O'Reilly and Jackson, all of whose recent cases have ended in divorce or misery. Gabriel is being pressed for results, so he introduces a radical new incentive: if their latest case isn't "cracked" – meaning, if the pair in question do not fall, and stay, in love, O'Reilly and Jackson must stay on earth forever, which does not appeal to them. They open their case file to learn their tasks. Celine Naville is the spoiled twenty-something daughter of a wealthy businessman. When one of her suitors, a loathsome dentist named Elliott, proposes marriage to her, she offers to say yes, but only if he agrees to reenact "William Tell" with an apple on his head. As she takes aim with a pistol, Elliot's nerves fail; his move results in a minor head wound. Robert Lewis is a janitor employed in the basement of Celine's father's company. His dreams for writing a best-selling trash novel are shot down by his co-workers. His manager tells him he is to be replaced by a robot. As he drowns his sorrows at a local bar, his girlfriend, Lily tells him she is leaving him for an aerobics instructor. O'Reilly and Jackson pose as collection agents to repossess Robert's things and evict him from his apartment. Robert storms to the high-rise office of the company boss, Mr Naville, while Naville is berating his daughter Celine for the William Tell fiasco. Security guards run in and start to attack Robert but he holds them off. When Celine introduces herself, Robert decides to kidnap her. He drives her to a remote cabin in the California woods. Celine easily slips free but decides to stick around. She stays for the adventure and revenge against her father, suggesting that they extort a huge ransom. O'Reilly and Jackson pose as bounty hunters, and contract with Naville to retrieve Celine and kill Robert. Robert's first attempt to collect the ransom fails but Celine encourages him. They go out to a rustic bar, where they sing along to the karaoke machine. When Robert wakes up the next morning, he is stunned to see that he and Celine have slept together. Robert makes a second demand for the ransom, with a letter written in Celine's blood. Naville gives O'Reilly and Jackson the money, and they go to meet Robert in the forest. To their disappointment, Robert appears willing to let Celine go in exchange for the money before O'Reilly stops his getaway. Aside, Jackson confesses his fears that the two are not in love yet. O'Reilly responds, "Jeopardy, Jackson. Always works." While O'Reilly and Celine wait by their car, Jackson takes Robert into the woods to execute him. Before he can, Celine decks O'Reilly, runs into the woods, and knocks Jackson out with a shovel. As Robert and Celine drive away, O'Reilly grabs the towbar and rides along. As she points her gun, Robert and Celine jump from the car, and it careens off a cliff, with the money still inside. Since they are short of money, Celine decides to rob a bank with Jackson's pistol. The robbery goes smoothly, until a security guard shoots at Celine. Robert pushes her out of the way, taking a bullet in the thigh. Celine hurriedly drives him back to the city, to be operated on by Elliot (the closest thing she can find to a discreet medical specialist). A little later, when Robert regains consciousness, he is appalled to see Celine playing a sleazy sexual role-playing game with Elliott. A fight breaks out, and Robert knocks Elliott unconscious. As they drive away, Celine explains that she only agreed to Elliott's request so that he would help Robert – and, in any case, it's none of Robert's business, since he and Celine aren't "involved," whatever he might think. Hurt, Robert gets out of the car and walks away. To get them back together, Jackson writes a love poem in Robert's handwriting and sends it to Celine. Overcome, she runs back to the bar, where Robert has started working as a janitor, and says he has won her heart with the poem. O'Reilly and Jackson, listening, dance for joy... until Robert says that he's never written a poem in his life. Humiliated, Celine runs out again. But after she's gone, Robert's boss, Al, knocks some sense into him: Robert has nothing in his life except the improbable love of "an intelligent, passionate, beautiful, rich woman... so why are you even thinking about it?" Robert runs after Celine, but is too late: O'Reilly and Jackson, believing they have failed, decide to make their Earth-bound lives bearable by kidnapping Celine for ransom. Robert tracks Celine to their hideout. He knocks O'Reilly down and, struggling with Jackson, tells Celine he loves her. The door is kicked down by Naville's butler, Mayhew, who shoots the two angels in the head (apparently killing them). Leaving Celine locked in the trunk, Naville and Mayhew drive Robert and the two angels' bodies to the cabin, planning to fake a murder-suicide. In Heaven, Gabriel's secretary begs him to intervene, but he refuses. He phones God and asks him to do so. A neighbour releases Celine from the truck. Taking his gun, she runs to the cabin and confronts her father, while Mayhew holds Robert at gunpoint. Robert has had recurring dreams of being saved by being shot through the heart by an "arrow of love." Celine shoots Robert and the bullet passes through, to hit Mayhew in the shoulder. After a whispered conference in Al's bar, Robert and Celine walk outside to their wedding. In an epilogue, Gabriel frees O'Reilly and Jackson from a pair of body bags. After Gabriel congratulates them on a successful case, the two angels embrace as they prepare to return home. In a second epilogue, Robert and Celine retrieve the suitcase full of money and settle in their new castle in Scotland. 

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The plot concerns Justine, a 12-year-old maiden ("As for Justine, aged as we have remarked, twelve") who sets off to make her way in France. It follows her until age 26 in her quest for virtue. She is presented with sexual lessons, hidden under a virtuous mask. The unfortunate situations include: the time when she seeks refuge and confession in a monastery, but is forced to become a sex slave to the monks, who subject her to countless orgies, rapes and similar rigours and the time when, helping a gentleman who is robbed in a field, he takes her back to his chateau with promises of a post caring for his wife, but she is then confined in a cave and subject to much the same punishment. These punishments are mostly the same throughout, even when she goes to a judge to beg for mercy in her case as an arsonist and then finds herself openly humiliated in court, unable to defend herself. These are described in true Sadean form. However, unlike some of his other works, the novel is not just a catalogue of sadism. Justine (Thérèse (or Sophie in the first version)) and Juliette were the daughters of Monsieur de Bertole. Bertole was a widower banker who fell in love with another man's lover. The man, Monsieur de Noirseuil, in the interest of revenge, pretended to be his friend, made sure he became bankrupt and eventually poisoned him, leaving the girls orphans. Juliette and Justine lived in a nunnery, where the abbess of the nunnery corrupted Juliette (and attempted to corrupt Justine too). However, Justine was sweet and virtuous. When the abbess found out about Bertole's death, she threw both girls out. Juliette's story is told in another book and Justine continues on in pursuit of virtue, beginning from becoming a maid in the house of the usurer Harpin, which is where her troubles begin anew. In her search for work and shelter Justine constantly fell into the hands of rogues who would ravish and torture her and the people she makes friends with. Justine was falsely accused of theft by Harpin and sent to jail expecting execution. She had to ally herself with a Miss Dubois, a criminal who helped her to escape along with her band. To escape, they had to start a fire in the prison, in which 21 people died. After escaping the band of Dubois, Justine wanders off and accidentally trespasses upon the lands of the count of Bressac. The story is told by "Thérèse" ("Sophie" in the first version) in an inn, to Madame de Lorsagne. It is finally revealed that Madame de Lorsagne is her long-lost sister. The irony is that her sister submitted to a brief period of vice and found herself a comfortable existence where she could exercise good, while Justine refused to make concessions for the greater good and was plunged further into vice than those who would go willingly. The story ends with Madame de Lorsagne relieving her from a life of vice and clearing her name. Soon afterward, Justine becomes introverted and morose and is finally struck by a bolt of lightning and killed instantly. Madame de Lorsagne joins a religious order after Justine's death. 

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In the town of Greendale in northern California, high school student Lane Myer's two main interests are skiing and his girlfriend of six months, Beth. Shortly before Christmas, Beth dumps Lane for the handsome and popular captain of the ski team, Roy Stalin. Roy is an arrogant bully who unfairly rejects Lane at ski team tryouts. Beth also criticizes Lane's car, an old station wagon. Although Lane also owns a 1967 Camaro, he has not been able to get it running and it sits on the drive in a dilapidated state. Lane lives in a suburban development with his mother, Jenny, a ditzy housewife who routinely concocts creepy (and creeping) family meals; his genius little brother, Badger, who never speaks but at the age of "almost 8" can build powerful lasers and attract trashy women from "How-to" books; and his lawyer father, Al, who daily tries to stop the menacing paperboy, Johnny, from breaking his garage door windows with thrown newspapers. Furthermore, Johnny claims that the Myers owe him two dollars for newspapers, and persistently hounds Lane yelling "I want my two dollars!" Lane also regularly encounters two Korean drag racers who speak in Japanese, one of whom learned to speak English by listening to Howard Cosell. Lane cannot get past Beth's rejection and decides that death is the only way out of his misery. He makes several half-hearted attempts at suicide, which all comically fail. With the help of his best friend, Charles de Mar, (who in lieu of not being able to get "real drugs" in their small town, constantly inhales everyday substances like Jell-O, snow, and nitrous oxide in a whipped cream can) Lane tries to ski the K-12, the highest peak in town, in hopes of getting Beth back but wipes out. Lane is further embarrassed when he gets fired from his humiliating fast food job at Pig Burgers in front of Roy and Beth, who are there on a date. To top it all, he increasingly begins to suffer from neurotic hallucinations owing to the mounting frustrations in his life. As Lane attempts to either end his life or win back his ex-girlfriend, he gradually gets to know a new girl: a French foreign-exchange student named Monique, who has a crush on him. She is staying with Lane's overbearing neighbor Mrs. Smith, who continually tries to force Monique into being a girlfriend for her socially awkward son Ricky. The pair are so annoying that she pretends she cannot speak English. Monique, a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, turns out to be an excellent auto mechanic and skier who helps Lane fix his Camaro and tries to build his confidence. When Roy insults Monique, Lane challenges him to a ski race down the K-12, with the winner to be captain of the ski team. Monique helps Lane prepare for the race, which he ultimately wins despite losing a ski and being pursued by Johnny. Beth rushes to embrace Lane at the finish line, but he rejects her and after besting Ricky (who attempts to keep Lane from rescuing Monique from the restraints of his mother) in a ski-pole swordfight, drives off with Monique in his Camaro. Lane and Monique are last seen kissing on the home plate at Dodger Stadium, with Johnny bicycling towards them, while in a mid-credit scene Badger launches a home-made space shuttle from his room through the roof of the house. 

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The Rugrats go on an adventure through the safari. Tommy impersonates Nigel Thornberry, who is his role model and spoofs his nature show. The babies' broadcast is cut short when they come across a tiger and then a crocodile, both of which threaten them. Just as they begin sinking in quicksand and are nearly attacked, this is revealed as only imagination; the babies and their families are about to go on vacation on the Lipschitz cruise ship. When the families arrive at the dock, they miss the Lipschitz cruise. Tommy's father, Stu, has rented a ramshackle boat called the S.S. Nancy which he reveals to be their real mode of transportation, and their real vacation. The families are angered that Stu did not consult them on his plans, and soon the boat is flipped over by a rogue wave during a tropical storm. Everyone is forced to abandon the ship and board a life raft as the ship sinks. Everyone blames Stu for causing all of this and lose hope of being saved. Things start looking up when Angelica sings about having hope on her karaoke machine (which resembles a toy piano) she brought, until Spike's tail accidentally knocks both her Cynthia doll and karaoke machine into the ocean. The next morning, they arrive on a small, seemingly uninhabited island (possibly in Southeast Asia) and Angelica finds her Cynthia doll on the beach. The adults argue about who should be the leader. When it gets out of hand, Betty suggests a test: she draws a circle around the fighting adults and tells everyone to step out of the circle, saying that it is the bad circle. They all step out and say that they all feel better, except Stu, and make Betty the leader after Didi forbids him from volunteering, much to his chagrin. On the opposite side of the island is the famous globe- trotting family the Thornberrys (out to film a clouded leopard). Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the kids, except for Angelica, set off to find them, for they suspect they are somewhere on the island. Along the way, Chuckie gets lost and runs into the Thornberry's child Donnie, who steals Chuckie's clothes, forcing Chuckie to wear Donnie's shorts. He laments on looking like a "wild boy". Meanwhile, Eliza, the gifted Thornberry, is exploring about the jungle with Darwin, her chimpanzee companion and runs into Spike, the Pickles' dog. Since Eliza can talk to animals, Spike (now voiced by Bruce Willis) talks for the first time (although he spoke in Chuckie's dream sequence in the episode "In the Dreamtime"); he informs her that his babies are lost somewhere on the island. Under the impression that Spike means he is looking for puppies, Eliza (and a reluctant Darwin) agree to help him find them. Following a close encounter with Siri, an angry clouded leopard whom Spike believes to be just a regular domestic cat, they learn that he meant the human babies. Simultaneously, Eliza's father, Nigel, finds the lost babies. He heads in their direction but ends up tumbling down a hill and suffers amnesia after a coconut falls on his head. Angelica (going by "Angelitiki, the Island Princess") runs into Debbie, the teenage Thornberry, and takes off with Debbie in the Thornberry's all-purpose mobile communication vehicle (commvee). In order to get back faster, Angelica steals the Thornberry's bathysphere, accidentally sinking the commvee in her attempt to pilot it. She finds and retrieves the babies and Nigel. Meanwhile Stu, who has managed to create a working coconut radio, and the other parents run into Donnie, who is still wearing Chuckie's shoes. After chasing him down the beach, they run into Marianne Thornberry, the mother of Eliza and Debbie and the wife of Nigel. Stu's coconut radio picks up the babies, Angelica having accidentally turned on the bathysphere's radio. Angelica and Susie, while fighting for control, have crashed bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean. Nigel hits his head in the crash and regains his memories. With the other parents' help, Marianne then raises the commvee and uses the automatic-retrieval system to rescue Nigel and the babies just as the air runs out. They are reunited with their families and forgive Stu, and everyone finally gets on board the Lipschitz cruise. The Thornberrys join them too, deciding that they should take a vacation, much to Debbie's delight. Spike vows never to lose his babies again. 

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Betty Lou Perkins is a meek librarian in New Orleans who nobody pays much attention to, in particular her husband, Alex. A criminal kingpin is killed in cold blood, and Betty Lou happens to find the murder gun. She is so mousy, however, that she cannot even get the police to listen to her, including Alex, who is a detective. In sheer frustration, she not only produces the gun, but also announces that she is the one who committed the crime. Behind bars, Betty Lou meets a variety of hardened and colorful characters. Rather than intimidate her, they actually increase her self- confidence. Once she is released, she begins to dress, speak, and act differently. Unfortunately for her, criminal acquaintances of the victim assume she must have confessed to the murder for a reason. They conclude she must be his mistress, and soon, the bad guys want a few words with her ... or worse. 

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The living dead continue to hold dominion over the earth but the remnants of human civilization have reorganized enough to establish protected outposts across the United States. One such outpost in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contains a feudal-like government. Bordered on two sides by rivers and on the third by an electrified fence guarded by a militia, the city has become a sanctuary in which its citizens live in relative security. Outside the city's barriers is a no-man's-land of barren countryside and dilapidated suburban towns long deserted by living humans but overrun with legions of walkers. The rich and powerful live in a luxury high-rise called Fiddler's Green, while the rest of the population subsists in squalor. Paul Kaufman, the city's ruthless plutocratic ruler, has sponsored Dead Reckoning, an armored personnel vehicle that can travel through the zombie-infested areas with ease. Riley Denbo is the designer and commander of Dead Reckoning. Unlike Kaufman, Riley is respected for his work in protecting the citizens, as well as providing them with food and medical supplies that the citizens can no longer safely acquire themselves. Using Dead Reckoning, Riley and his crew venture into areas overrun with zombies to scavenge for supplies. On one mission, they notice many zombies exhibiting intelligent behavior. This was especially seen by one such zombie, "Big Daddy", formerly a gas station attendant. During the mission, rookie Mike is bitten by a zombie and commits suicide before he turns. After the mission, Riley retires from commanding Dead Reckoning. Back in the city, he visits Chihuahua's bar. There, he sees a prostitute named Slack being forced into a cage with some zombies to entertain guests. Riley and Charlie save Slack; Charlie kills Chihuahua in the ensuing chaos. Riley, Charlie and Slack are arrested. Slack reveals that Kaufman ordered her execution, for helping Mulligan to instigate rebellion among the poor. Meanwhile, Cholo DeMora, Dead Reckonings second in command, is denied an apartment in Fiddler's Green despite his service to Kaufman. In retaliation, Cholo takes over Dead Reckoning and threatens to destroy Fiddler's Green with it. Kaufman approaches Riley and tasks him, as well as Charlie and Slack, to retrieve Dead Reckoning. They are supervised by Manolete, Motown, and Pillsbury. On the way, Manolete is bitten and then killed by Slack. After catching up with Dead Reckoning, Riley approaches the vehicle alone. Charlie, Slack, and Pillsbury follow him after subduing Motown and leaving her behind. Realizing Riley is working for Kaufman, Cholo holds both Riley and Charlie at gunpoint. As he prepares to fire Dead Reckonings missiles at Fiddler's Green, Riley uses a small device and deactivates Dead Reckonings weapons systems; he then destroys the device. Motown, who had regained consciousness, opens fire and nearly kills both Riley and Cholo (who is maimed by one of the gunshots). She is bitten by a zombie and killed by Slack. Riley convinces Cholo to allow him to escape North and to join him, but the latter decides to return to Fiddler's Green to deal with Kaufman; his partner, Foxy accompanies him. While en route, Cholo is bitten by a zombie and leaves to kill Kaufman by himself. Riley takes over Dead Reckoning once again and returns to Fiddler's Green. Elsewhere, Big Daddy (who has gathered a large group of zombies) learns that they can walk safely underwater, and leads the zombies across the river to the human city. They take the guards by surprise and begin massacring the people. As a result of the zombies making it into the city, the electric fences that once kept the zombies out have now become a wall to trap them and the humans inside. Seeing the city overrun, Kaufman runs with his money, and encounters a zombie Cholo in the parking garage. As the two struggle, Big Daddy kills both with an exploding propane tank. Riley's group arrives at the city only to come upon a raised drawbridge. Riley leaves to bring the bridge down, but a small group of zombies begin to attack Dead Reckoning. Riley and the others manage to dispose of and evade the zombies. After crossing the bridge, they helplessly witness people being killed by the zombies. Realizing it is too late to save them, they mercy kill them with missiles. It is then revealed that most of the poor people were led to safety by Mulligan, thus surviving the assault. Riley and Mulligan share a well-meaning goodbye as they split up with their groups. As they see Big Daddy and the zombies (who are, curiously, not attacking the surviving humans) leaving the city, sparing the surviving humans, Riley decides to leave them alone as well as the zombies do the same, citing that they are just looking for a place to go, too. While lighting up the rest of the fireworks (which were earlier used to distract the zombies, but are now useless since they do not distract the horde anymore), Riley's group set off for Canada on Dead Reckoning. 

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The Maggie is a typical Clyde puffer, a small, aged cargo boat with a varied, irascible and argumentative crew. MacTaggart (Alex Mackenzie), her rascal of a captain, is in dire need of £300 to renew his licence. In a shipping office in Glasgow, he overhears Mr Pusey (Hubert Gregg), an Englishman complete with bowler hat and umbrella, trying to arrange for the transportation of some personal furniture for his boss, American Calvin B. Marshall (Paul Douglas). The big, reputable shipping company has nothing immediately available, so MacTaggart gets the job when Pusey mistakenly believes that he works for the company and that the more modern vessel docked next to the Maggie is MacTaggart's. Marshall is a wealthy industrialist, a stubborn and determined self-made man. When he eventually learns the truth, he sets out in pursuit by aeroplane and hired car. Catching up with the puffer, he puts Pusey on board to ensure the cargo is transferred to another boat. But his underling is no match for the captain; he ends up in jail on a charge of poaching. Marshall realizes that he will have to handle the matter personally. After another costly chase, he boards the boat himself to spur the cargo transfer. However, the route and timing of the voyage are governed by MacTaggart, tidal variations and local community priorities. Marshall's hostile attitude gradually softens somewhat. He is particularly touched by the loyalty of the "wee boy", Dougie (Tommy Kearins), to his captain. At one point, when Marshall threatens to buy the boat from the owner, MacTaggart's sister, and sell it for scrap, Dougie drops a board on him, knocking him unconscious. His mood changes again when the wily Mactaggart moors the puffer under a wooden jetty; as the tide rises, the jetty (due for dismantling anyway) is damaged, making it impossible to transfer the furniture to the deeper draught vessel when it arrives. At one of the unscheduled stops, the crew attend the hundredth birthday party of an islander, and Marshall chats with a nineteen-year-old girl who is pondering her future. She has two suitors, an up-and-coming, ambitious store owner and a poor fisherman. The American advises her to choose the former, but she believes she will marry the latter, explaining that he will give her his time, rather than just things. This strikes a chord with Marshall. He is having marital difficulties, and the furniture is an attempt to patch things up with his wife. As they finally near their destination, the engine fails. Marshall manages to repair the old, poorly maintained machinery, but it is too late. The Maggie is driven by wind and tide onto some rocks. Marshall asks MacTaggart if they can save her by jettisoning the cargo. MacTaggart then apologetically informs him that he neglected to insure the furniture, but Marshall orders it thrown overboard anyway. The Maggie is saved. At journey's end, Marshall, with some prodding by Dougie, even allows MacTaggart to keep the money he so desperately needs. In appreciation of his magnanimity, MacTaggart renames his boat the Calvin B. Marshall. 

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The book tells the story of the artist's early childhood and adolescence, focusing on his relationship with his brother and sister. His brother develops severe and intractable epilepsy, causing the family to seek a variety of solutions from alternative medicine, most dramatically by moving to a commune based on macrobiotic principles. As the epileptic brother loses control of his own life, the artist develops solitary obsessions with cartoons, mythology and war. The book's graphic style becomes increasingly elaborate as the children's fantasy life takes over, with their dreams and fears (including epilepsy itself) appearing as living creatures. In brief interludes, the children appear as adults when the artist begins the process of writing the story. 

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In 2049, Chris Faulkner is recruited by Shorn Associates, an investment firm in London. There he befriends Mike Bryant, a fellow junior executive in the "Conflict Investment" division. Conflict Investment provides resources to incumbent or rebel factions in exchange for promised share of the nation's gross domestic product. CI members often toast to continued "small wars" as their primary source of income for themselves and their investors. Executive advancement in 2049 is not based on merit or politics alone, rather executives can issue challenges to each other which are held on highways emptied of cars and usually fought to the death, in a fashion similar to Mad Max, a source cited as inspiration by the author in the acknowledgements of the book. Chris Faulkner gains recognition and small celebrity for a particularly brutal win over a much older and more seasoned member of his firm, from which he is head- hunted by Shorn to join their team. Within the media landscape, business executives have fame on the order of sports stars or movie actors and their driving duels are analysed and covered as sporting events. Chris' wife Carla is also his mechanic, a vital role where an executive's car is the difference between promotion and death. She is not a fan of the way he makes his living, but they have an initially strong relationship. During a night out in the one of the Zones – the cordoned off zone of decaying ghettos surrounding the City of London – Mike introduces Chris to journalist Liz Linshaw, who is also Mike's former mistress. Before they leave the Zones, Mike brutally executes several gang members who attempt to steal his car. Back at work, Mike brings Chris in to use contacts and analysis from his prior firm to assist into a project regarding propping up the ageing Colombian dictator General Hernan Echevarria. With Shorn's contract due for renewal they are challenged by competing agencies Nakamura and Acropolitic. The challenge is settled by a driving duel in which the Shorn team eliminates the two competing teams. Chris' profile is greatly increased with this victory, including appearances on TV and magazines as the latest star from a line of Shorn executives. As Chris becomes famous for his driving performance, he begins an affair with Liz Linshaw. With Echevarria's son, Francisco, who is aligned with a competing American firm, preparing to take over, Chris believes that a long-time rebel leader might be a better option than Francisco. Vincente Barranco, the rebel leader chosen by Chris, is signed to a contract with Shorn and brought to London to shop for arms to bring his small force the resources they need to overthrow Hernan before Francisco takes over. However, other Shorn executives sabotage Chris's efforts by arranging for Barranco to overhear a Shorn executive negotiate with the Echevarrias. When challenged by Barranco that he is not truly committed to his cause, Chris reacts by spontaneously beating Hernan to death in a conference room. Shorn concocts a coverup and pins Hernan's death on an otherwise unknown terrorist group. The killing is also concealed from most of Shorn's employees, but the senior partner of CI agrees that while a completely unorthodox act, it's the sort of rule bending which is sometimes needed to return the maximum for their clients. While his actions convince Barranco that he is in fact committed to his side, Chris is removed from the Colombia job which is handed over to a senior partner, Hamilton, who takes a more pragmatic view and moves to align with Hernan's son. As it is clear that the demands of his job are taking a toll on Chris, Carla becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the brutal competition among firms and the violence they incite in other countries. Seeking an escape from Shorn and to save their marriage, Carla, with the help of her father, who lives in the London Zones, and her mother in Sweden, secures a position at the United Nations as an Ombudsman, a sort of outside auditor/investigator who attempts to enforce the UN's mandate across the world. This position is viewed as honourable but ultimately ineffective as neither the US nor UK recognise the UN's authority and run roughshod over them in their pursuit of profits. After an initially frosty meeting, Chris' conditions are agreed on, but with the requirement that he stay in place at Shorn through the end of the current conflict in Cambodia, in which Shorn is backing a rebel leader. As the conflict in Colombia tilts in favour of the son, Hamilton goes outside of the normal chain of command to plan the execution of Barranco and the elimination of the local Shorn representative in a gladiatorial duel. Faulkner finds out about this and barges into a video conference Hamilton is having with Francisco, telling him that he in fact killed his father with his bare hands. He then beats Hamilton and breaks his neck. He is duly captured and placed in a Corporation operated jail. In jail, Chris is offered a choice: be convicted of murder and have his organs harvested after being subject to capital punishment or participate in face-saving (for Shorn) farce by saying he had legally issued a challenge to Hamilton for his position in the firm. Conditions of this agreement are steep however as he must drive against Mike Bryant, who he had grown to be truly close with, but who is now completely done with him with revelation of Chris' affair with Liz Linshaw and Chris' brutal killings outside of the bounds of the challenge process. The night prior to the challenge, the UN representative returns with the chance for Chris to escape and reunite with his estranged wife, who has left the country. He declines. Mike is the superior driver but using a creative interpretation of challenge rules, Chris forces Mike to drive off a bridge and into the Zones. Chris finds the badly injured Mike and kills him just before a gang, who had watched the duel on television, finds them. The gang beats Chris but he survives when the gang is gunned down by Driver Control authorities, the sanctioning body for duels. The story ends with Chris, as the new senior executive, giving the new dictator Francisco Echevarria 48 hours to flee his country in favour of installing Barranco. 

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The film is set in Kentucky, where J. P. Pettigrew's (Bernhard Goetzke) wife had died giving birth to their son Edward (John F. Hamilton), born disabled. Pettigrew loathes John 'Fear o' God' Fulton (Malcolm Keen) who was also in love with Pettigrew's wife. Pettigrew later witnesses his now-grown son making love to schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi), and confronts her about the relationship. He attempts to take her in his arms, but Beatrice rejects his advances. Pettigrew's son Edward sees this and flees the village. Pettigrew is incensed at both Beatrice's rejection and the loss of his son, and thus attempts to have Beatrice arrested as a wanton harlot. John forestalls Pettigrew's plan by marrying Beatrice and taking her to his cabin where they fall in love. Beatrice becomes pregnant. Pettigrew seeks revenge by having John thrown in prison for murdering his (missing) son. A year later, John breaks out of prison and attempts to flee with Beatrice and their child. However, Beatrice falls ill and John must return to the village for a doctor. There he finds that Edward has reappeared. John's affairs are now cleared up and he is legally free from the charge of murder. Pettigrew is subsequently shot and wounded (contemporary sources differ on this point), and is no longer a threat to John and his family. 

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The film starts with Ali fetching his little sister Zahra's pink shoes after a cobbler has repaired them. He leaves them unattended to buy some potatoes. While he is pre- occupied, a homeless man picks up the shoes, hidden in a bag, thinking it was garbage and takes them away. Frantic to find them, the young boy, thinking the shoes fell behind the crates, knocks over plates of vegetables and is chased away by the grocer. Ali's family lives in a poor South Tehran neighbourhood, and are having financial trouble, so he fears to tell his parents about the mishap. The landlord argues with Ali's mother because she is five months behind on the rent, and the grocer has not been paid in a while either. Ali tells Zahra about the shoes and begs her not to tell their mother; she agrees. That night, Ali's father scolds him for not helping his ill mother when she asked. While the siblings were doing their homework, they passed notes to each other discussing what to do. They devise a scheme to share Ali's Converse sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and return them to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. Ali does well on a test and his teacher awards him a gold-colored pen with the others in his class that got good grades; he gives it to Zahra to partially make up for losing her shoes. However, the uncomfortable arrangement between him and his sister leads to Ali being late three times in a row, no matter how hard he runs; the first time the principal ignores him, the second time he gives him a warning, the third time he tells Ali to leave and return with his father who is at work trying to make money. Ali's teacher, noticing Ali's tears, persuades the principal that Ali is at the top of his class and to give the boy one more chance and let him back into class. One day, Zahra notices her missing pink shoes on another student, Roya's, feet. After class, Zahra secretly follows Roya home. She later brings Ali with her for a confrontation, but from hiding, they discover that Roya's father is blind, so they decide to leave. When Roya does well in her studies, her father buys her new violet shoes and throws away Zahra's. Zahra is dismayed when she finds out from her new friend. Ali's father, anxious to earn more money, borrows some gardening equipment and heads off with Ali to the rich suburbs of North Tehran to find some gardening work. They try many places without success, though Ali proves to be a great help to his tongue-tied father. Finally, they come upon a mansion in which a six-year-old boy named Alireza lives under the care of his grandfather. While Ali plays with Alireza, his father works. When he is finished, Ali's father is surprised and elated by how generous the grandfather is. On the way home, Ali mentions in passing that Zahra could use a new pair of shoes; his father says that new shoes for his children is a good idea, however, their elation is short lived as their bicycle's brakes fail and the father is injured in the resulting crash. Finally, Ali learns of a high-profile children's 4 kilometer footrace involving many schools; the third prize is one week at a vacation camp and a pair of sneakers. Ali sees this as his chance to earn a new pair of shoes for Zahra. To his bitter disappointment, in a hard-fought dash to the finish, he accidentally places first instead. Ali returns home where Zahra is waiting for him. However, before he can reveal to his sister his disappointment in his placement in the race, she is called away by their mother. In a separate scene, there is a quick shot of the children's father's bicycle as he's riding home, showing a pair of white and a pair of pink shoes among his purchases. In the final shot, Ali is dejected as his sneakers are torn from the race—he is then shown dipping his bare blistered feet in a pool. Some versions include an epilogue revealing that Ali eventually achieves success in a racing career. 

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In the 1870s, Nate Harlow (Kurt Rhoads) and Griff (Bert Pence) find gold in an area called Bear Mountain and celebrate by building two unique revolvers. Griff is later captured by the Mexican Army and sentenced to death, but convinces General Diego (Robert Jimenez) to spare him after offering him half of the gold in Bear Mountain. Diego later sends his right-hand man, Colonel Daren (Dennis Ostermaier), to kill Nate, the only other person who knows about the gold. Daren and his men kill Nate and his wife, Falling Star (Messeret Stroman), but their son Red (Jason Fuchs) escapes after shooting off Daren's left arm with his father's revolver. Years later, Red (Robert Bogue) has become a ruthless bounty hunter. After killing an outlaw gang led by "Bloody Tom" (Christian Tanno), he takes their bodies to the town of Widows Patch for the bounty on their heads, only to be attacked by a rival gang led by "Ugly Chris" (Erick Devine). With local Sheriff O'Grady's assistance (Stephen Schnetzer), Red kills them, but O'Grady is badly wounded, so Red takes him to Brimstone, the nearest town with a doctor, foiling a train robbery on the way there. After Red drops O'Grady off, Brimstone's Sheriff Bartlett (Gene Jones) asks him for assistance in dealing with several gangs terrorizing the area. Red first eliminates an evil traveling circus, aided by English trick-shootist and former circus member Jack Swift (Gregg Martin), before going after other well- known gang leaders. After eliminating all gang leaders, Red returns to Bartlett to claim the bounties on their heads, only to learn the gold wagon hasn't arrived yet. At the Brimstone Bank, Red learns that Governor Griffon owns part of Bear Mountain and meets local rancher Annie Stoakes (Carrie Keranen), who is about to lose her farm to Griffon. Recalling that his family was killed over that very mine, Red goes to discuss the issue with Annie, just as her farm is destroyed by Griffon's men, prompting Red to promise her his bounty money. Later, Red goes to a saloon to question some local thugs on the gold wagon's whereabouts. When they refuse to talk, a fight ensues, leading to Red being arrested by Bartlett, though he releases him upon learning he is Nate's son, and reveals that General Diego and Colonel Daren are still alive and court bound. Red leaves to destroy Diego's supply wagon, but is captured by Daren and forced to work at Bear Mountain as a slave. While imprisoned, Red befriends a U.S. soldier known only as "Buffalo Soldier" (Benton Greene), before the pair are rescued by Red's Native American cousin Shadow Wolf (Chaske Spencer). After escaping from the mines, Red and Shadow Wolf attack Diego's fortress and kill Daren, though Shadow Wolf is mortally wounded. Red later tracks down and destroys Diego's gold wagon, finally killing the general. Meanwhile, Buffalo Soldier makes his way to Brimstone to inform Governor Griffon of Diego's operations, but the governor reveals he is affiliated with Diego and has Buffalo imprisoned once again. Some time later, Red, Annie, and Jack participate in Brimstone's yearly quick-draw competition hosted by Griffon and Bartlett. After Red defeats all his opponents, Griffon disqualifies Annie and Jack, leaving only Red and four time champion Mr. Kelley (Joseph Melendez) to compete. Following Kelley's defeat, a frustrated Griffon pulls out his revolver to kill Red, which is identical to his, leading Red to conclude that Griffon is actually Griff and that he was also involved in his father's death. As Griffon makes his escape, he orders a still-living Kelley to kill Red, who murders him instead. Afterward, aided by Annie, Jack, and Bartlett, Red storms Griffon's mansion and kills all his goons, before finally confronting the governor on the rooftop. The two engage in a climatic duel that results in Griffon's death. Following the battle, Red is saddened to learn that Jack was killed, but is grateful that he sacrificed himself to help him avenge his parents' murder. Bartlett proceeds to thank Red for all the good he has done for the people of Brimstone and offers to pay him the gold he is owed, but Red tells him to give it to Annie instead, to rebuild her farm and help Buffalo Soldier (whom she rescued during the battle), thus honoring his promise to her. Advised by Bartlett to leave before he is arrested for Griffon's murder, Red grabs the governor's revolver and departs, while claiming that "It never was about the money." 

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Villa was portrayed by Domingo Soler. Directed by Fernando de Fuentes, the film tells the story of a group of friends who hear about the revolution and Villa and decide to join him, only to suffer the cruel reality of war under the command of a Villa who simply does not care about his men. The movie has two endings: the original ending shows the last surviving friend returning to his home, disenchanted with both Villa and the Revolution. The second ending, discovered many years later, returns to the same scene ten years later, when an old and weakened Villa tries to recruit the last survivor again; when the father hesitates as he does not want to leave his wife and daughter behind, Villa kills the wife and daughter. The angry father then tries to kill Villa, before another man shoots the father dead. Villa takes the sole survivor, the son, with him. 

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When Napoleon (James Tolkan) invades Austria during the Napoleonic Wars, Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen), a coward and pacifist scholar, is forced to enlist in the Russian army. Desperate and disappointed after hearing the news that Sonja (Diane Keaton), his cousin twice removed, is to wed a herring merchant, he inadvertently becomes a war hero. Boris returns and marries the recently widowed Sonja, who does not want to marry him, but promises him that she will, in order to make him happy for one night, when she thinks that he is about to be killed in a duel. To her surprise and disappointment, he survives the duel. Their marriage is filled with philosophical debates but no money. Their life together is interrupted when Napoleon invades the Russian Empire. Boris wants to flee but his wife, angered that the invasion will interfere with their plans to start a family that year, conceives a plot to assassinate Napoleon at his headquarters in Moscow. Boris and Sonja debate the matter with some degree of philosophical doublespeak, and Boris reluctantly goes along with it. They fail to kill Napoleon and Sonja escapes arrest while Boris is executed, despite being told by a vision that he will be pardoned. Boris' ghost bids goodbye to Sonja and the audience before dancing away with Death. 

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In "Visitor from New York", Hannah Warren is a Manhattan workaholic who flies to Los Angeles to retrieve her teenage daughter Jenny after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father William. The bickering, divorced couple is forced to decide what living arrangements are best for the girl. Conservative, middle- aged businessman Marvin Michaels is the "Visitor from Philadelphia", who awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny unconscious in his bed after consuming a bottle of vodka. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his uncharacteristic indiscretion. The "Visitors from London" are British actress Diana Nichols, a first-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and her husband Sidney, a once-closeted antique dealer who increasingly has become indiscreet about his sexual orientation. The Oscar is an honor that could revive her faltering career, but Diana knows she doesn't have a chance of winning. She is in deep denial about the true nature of her marriage of convenience, and as she prepares for her moment in the spotlight, her mood fluctuates from hope to panic to despair. The "Visitors from Chicago" are two affluent couples who are best friends. Stu Franklyn and his wife Gert and Mort Hollender and his wife Beth are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when Beth is hurt during a tennis match, and Mort accuses Stu of causing her injury. 

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The story begins in the Elizabethan era, shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. On her deathbed, the Queen promises an androgynous young nobleman named Orlando a large tract of land and a castle built on it, along with a generous monetary gift; both Orlando and his heirs would keep the land and inheritance forever, but Elizabeth will bequeath it to him only if he assents to an unusual command: "Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." Orlando acquiesces and reposes in splendid isolation in the castle for a couple of centuries, during which time he dabbles in poetry and art. His attempts to befriend a celebrated poet, however, backfire when the poet ridicules his verse. Orlando then travels to Constantinople as English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and is almost killed in a diplomatic fracas. Waking up seven days later, he learns something startling: he has transformed into a woman. The now Lady Orlando comes home to her estate in Middle-Eastern attire, only to learn that she faces several impending lawsuits arguing that Orlando was a woman all along and therefore has no right to the land or any of the royal inheritance that the Queen had promised. The succeeding two centuries tire Orlando out; the court case, bad luck in love, and the wars of British history eventually bring the story to the present day (i.e., the early 1990s). Orlando now has a young daughter in tow and is in search of a publisher for her book. (The literary editor who judges the work as "quite good" is portrayed by Heathcote Williams—the same actor who played the poet who had, earlier in the film, denigrated Orlando's poetry.) Having lived a most bizarre existence, Orlando, relaxing with her daughter and daydreaming philosophically under a tree, has finally found a tranquil niche. 

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A small blue bird lands on a telephone wire and makes itself comfortable, only to have a second small bird land next to it. The two birds quickly start to squabble as others land on the wire and join in. They are interrupted when a large, gangly, awkward looking bird sitting on top of the pole honks to them. Soon, the small birds start mocking the large one by puffing up their feathers to resemble his plumage and imitating his honk. They then slide farther out along the wire and chatter suspiciously among themselves, ignoring the large bird's attempts to befriend them until he settles in the middle of all of them out on the wire. However, his weight causes the wire to sag almost to the ground and all the small birds slide down toward him, which causes him to lose his balance and flop over to hang upside down by his feet. The two nearest to the center start pecking at his toes, egged on by the rest of the crowd. One of the other birds suddenly panics, realizing how low the wire is and tries to stop the pecking. The others understand and stop too late; when the large bird's last toe slides off, the wire snaps upward and flings all the small birds out of sight like a slingshot. The large bird is so close to the ground that he's unaffected by the whole thing, but is accompanied by a shower of feathers from the small birds. One of them falls to the ground, having lost all its feathers and the large bird laughs and offers it a leaf to cover itself. The others soon tumble down as well, without feathers, and hide behind the large bird as he laughs even harder. A white splatter with the words, "The end", on it against a black screen, marks the end of this film. 

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Dr. Nils Hellstrom, an entomologist, is a successful film maker and influential scientific advisor with strong political ties. Living and working with a small staff on a farm in rural Oregon, he attracts the attention of an unnamed government organisation when documents are discovered that hint on cult like activities and a secret weapon project. It is revealed that the farm is situated above a vast system of tunnels and caves, hosting a hivelike subterranean society of nearly 50,000 specialized workers. Hellstrom, thanks to advanced bioengineering, has been the appointed hive leader for more than a century. He is completely convinced of the superiority of the hive and its abandonment of conventional morals and ethics: Sexuality or violence, indeed any individual action, is rated strictly whether it strengthens or weakens the hive as a whole. The story is told from various perspectives of members of both the nameless organisation investigating the farm and plotting against each other, as well as Hellstrom and several high ranking hive members collectively dealing with the threat of being discovered and probably extinguished by ‚the wild ones‘. In the end the hive's weapon project is ready to protect the hive and the upcoming 'swarming' - the gradual displacement of individual based humanity. 

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In 1912, Broadway star Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) buys Easter presents for his sweetheart ("Happy Easter"), getting a boy to part with an Easter rabbit by distracting him with a set of drums ("Drum Crazy"). He takes the gifts to his dancing partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), who has been offered a show with a solo opportunity. He persuades her to change her mind ("It Only Happens When I Dance With You") until his best friend, Johnny (Peter Lawford), arrives. Nadine reveals she and Don are no longer a team, clearly attracted to Johnny, who refuses her out of respect for Don. Don drowns his sorrow at a bar, bragging that he can make a star of the next dancer he meets. Picking one of the onstage performers, Hannah Brown (Judy Garland), he tells her to meet him for rehearsal the next day. He tries to turn her into a copy of Nadine, teaching her to dance the same way, buying her similar dresses, and giving her the "exotic" stage name "Juanita". She makes several mistakes at their first performance ("Beautiful Faces Need Beautiful Clothes"), and the show is a fiasco. Johnny is instantly attracted to Hannah, singing "A Fella With an Umbrella" while walking her to rehearsal. He tries unsuccessfully to reunite Don with Nadine, who tells Don her friends are laughing because Hannah is trying to be her. Realizing his mistake after hearing Hannah sing "I Love a Piano", Don prepares routines better suited to her. Now known as "Hannah & Hewes", they successfully perform "I Love a Piano," "Snookie-Ookums", "The Ragtime Violin", and "When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam'". Auditioning for Ziegfeld Follies, Hannah and Don meet Nadine, the show's star. Hannah realizes Nadine was Don's former partner and demands to know if they were in love. At their hotel, Don reveals he turned down the Ziegfeld offer, believing Hannah and Nadine do not belong in the same show. Johnny arrives to take Hannah to dinner, revealing he has fallen in love with her, but Hannah admits she is actually in love with Don. Nadine's show opens ("Shakin' The Blues Away") with Don in the audience. He reveals to Hannah that he signed them to star in their own show, inviting her to celebrate over dinner. She arrives at his apartment only for him suggest a dance rehearsal. Declaring that he only sees her as a dancing aid, she tries to leave, but he kisses her. She plays the piano and sings "It Only Happens When I Dance With You," and he realizes he is in love with her and they embrace. The show features a solo by Don ("Steppin' Out with My Baby"), followed by ("We're a Couple of Swells"), in which he and Hannah play bums. Afterward, they celebrate at the roof garden where Nadine is performing. The audience gives them a rousing ovation, much to Nadine's chagrin. After dancing in "The Girl on the Magazine Cover," Nadine insists she and Don perform one of their old numbers – "It Only Happens When I Dance With You (Reprise)". Don reluctantly agrees, upsetting Hannah who leaves, believing he has been using her to regain Nadine. At the bar where she and Don first met, Hannah pours out her troubles to Mike the bartender ("Better Luck Next Time"). She returns to her apartment to find Don waiting. He tries to explain himself, promising to wait all night for her to forgive him, but he is evicted by the house detective just before she opens the door. The next morning, Johnny reassures Hannah that if he loved someone, he would let her know, and Hannah goes to meet Don for their date at the Easter parade. Several gifts arrive at Don's apartment with no cards. Hannah arrives unexpectedly saying she sent them, oblivious to their argument and urging him to prepare for their date. Photographed as they walk in the Easter parade, echoing the film's opening with Nadine, Don proposes to Hannah ("Easter Parade"). 

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During World War II the British army is attempting to retrieve an Enigma machine from Germany. Having failed in previous attempts, they decide to send four men undercover to the factory that makes the devices in Berlin. Unfortunately the factory is populated entirely by women, and they only have men to send. American O'Rourke (LeBlanc), British transvestite Tony Parker (Izzard), genius Johnno (David Birkin), and the reluctant Archie (James Cosmo) are sent to infiltrate the factory dressed as women. Dropped in the wrong area, the team must first try to find their bearings. Aided by Romy, a sympathiser to their cause, they find their way to the factory. They manage to retrieve the Enigma machine, against the expectations of the British army. Just before they leave Germany, they realize they were tricked—the British government already had the device, but wanted to make the Germans think they were still after it. They were specifically chosen as the team most likely to fail. Leaving Germany with an Enigma machine would, in fact, destroy the usefulness of the machine, as the Germans would know it was stolen and switch to a different code system. Archie volunteers to be captured with the machine to allow the mission to "fail". After he is captured, the team retrieves him and returns safely to England, leaving the Germans with the impression they have all the Enigma machines and the British are still desperate to obtain one. 

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John "Lucky" Garnett (Fred Astaire) is a gambler and dancer. He is set to marry Margaret (Betty Furness), but his friends hold him up quibbling about a minor alteration to his suit, so that he is late for the wedding. Margaret's father phones to call off the wedding, but Lucky doesn't get that message. His friends bet him that he will not be getting married, and he agrees to the bet. Margaret's father tells Lucky that he must earn $25,000 to demonstrate his good intentions. He and his friend "Pop" Cardetti (Victor Moore) try to buy train tickets, but his friends take his money – because he lost the bet. So they hitch the first freight train to New York. Broke, they wander around the city. Lucky meets Penny (Ginger Rogers), a dance school instructor, when he asks for change for a quarter. It's his lucky quarter and Pop feels bad that Lucky lost it. They attempt to get it back, but Penny is in no mood to deal with them. When she drops her things, Pop sneaks the quarter out of her purse, and she thinks Lucky did it. They follow Penny to her work. To be able to apologize, he has to take a dancing lesson from her. She's still furious at him. After a disastrous lesson, Penny tells him to "save his money" since he will never learn to dance. Her boss, Mr. Gordon (Eric Blore), overhears her comment and fires her. Lucky dances with Penny to "prove" how much she's taught him. Not only does Mr. Gordon give Penny her job back, he sets up an audition with the owner of a local venue. They check into the same hotel where Penny is staying. Lucky does not have a tuxedo to wear to the audition. He tries to get a tuxedo off a drunk man, but he ends up losing his own clothes instead. They miss the audition, and Penny gets mad at Lucky all over again. Lucky arranges another audition. He and Pop picket in front of Penny's door until she gives in and forgives him. But they cannot audition because the club has lost their band leader, Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa), to a casino. They go to Club Raymond where Lucky gambles to win enough to get Ricky back. Meanwhile, Ricky declares his feelings for Penny. Lucky is about to win enough to marry Margaret, but he takes his last bet off in time... proving he is no longer interested in her, but in Penny, instead. The club owner bets him double or nothing and they gamble for Ricky's contract. Upon seeing that the club owner intends to cheat, Pop cheats as well, and Lucky wins the contract. Lucky and Penny dance at the club. They are dancing together all the time, but Lucky does not trust himself around Penny because he feels guilty about not telling her about Margaret. He's avoiding her, which Penny notices, so she and her friend Mabel Anderson (Helen Broderick) conspire to get Lucky and Pop out to the country. Pop lets slip the information about Lucky and Margaret. Despite her best efforts, the two begin a romance, even as Ricky continues to woo Penny. When Margaret shows up, Lucky tries to avoid her; but, too late, Penny finds out. She agrees to marry Ricky. Margaret calls off her engagement to Lucky before he can. Lucky successfully stops Penny's wedding. And the two end up together, much to everyone's delight. 

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Now a successful and wealthy architect, Mark Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife Joanna (Jo) Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) fly their white 1965 Mercedes 230SL roadster to Northern France in order to drive to Saint-Tropez to celebrate the completion of a building project for a client, Maurice. Tensions between the couple are evident, and as they journey south they both remember and discuss several past journeys along the same road. The earliest memory is their first meeting on a ferry crossing in 1954, when Mark was travelling alone and Joanna was part of a girls' choir. They meet again when Joanna's choir bus goes off the road and Mark helps get them back on the road. When the other girls get chickenpox, Joanna and Mark unexpectedly wind up hitchhiking south together. The next story involves the two newlyweds travelling with Mark's ex-girlfriend Cathy Manchester (Eleanor Bron), her husband (William Daniels) and daughter Ruth 'Ruthie' (Gabrielle Middleton) from the USA. Ruthie is not given any limits, and her behaviour frustrates Mark and Jo. Eventually Ruthie reveals the unkind descriptions of Joanna her parents have made in private. At this point Mark and Joanna decide to travel alone. Next the pair are seen driving an MG which begins to have exhaust troubles, finally catching on fire. On this journey Joanna announces that she is pregnant. They also meet the wealthy Maurice Dalbret (Claude Dauphin) and his wife Françoise (Nadia Gray). Maurice becomes a generous but demanding client for Mark. The next story shows them travelling with their young daughter Caroline (Kathy Chelimsky). In another episode, Mark is travelling alone and has a fling with another motorist. The fling is shown to be fleeting and unserious in nature. Later, Joanna has an affair with Françoise's brother David (Georges Descrières), which is portrayed as much more serious than Mark's and threatens to end the marriage. However, while Joanna dines with David, they witness a couple eating together without saying a word. David asks offhandedly, "What kind of people can sit there without a word to say to each other?" Joanna replies excitedly, "Married people!" and, realizing she misses Mark despite their faded passion, runs back to him. At the end of the film, the Wallaces manage to end their long-term relationship to Maurice and find a new client in Rome. They honestly analyze the fears and insecurities which have plagued them throughout the film. Finally, they cross the border from France into Italy. This is new ground for them as well as for the audience, signalling a move beyond the old issues into a more mature future. 

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In the town of Willowby, a tall skinny blue bloodhound named Foofur has taken refuge in a mansion, in 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace. In Foofur's group is his niece Rocki, Fencer the Cat, a bulldog named Louis with his girlfriend, an Old English Sheepdog named Annabell, and a cocker spaniel named Hazel with her husband, a miniature schnauzer named Fritz-Carlos. Foofur and his friends, however, have an enemy in a woman named Mrs. Amelia Escrow and her pet Chihuahua named Pepe as Pepe tries to expose Foofur's illegal roommates – but always to no avail. Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate, but unknown to her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought, as they also protect their home from rodents like the Rat Brothers who tend to mess with Fencer, other cats like Vinnie and his Cat Pack, and greedy humans. While trying to stop Mrs. Escrow, Foofur tries to evade having his friends captured by the Bowser Busters' dog catchers Mel and Harvey. In addition, an Afghan Hound named Burt also antagonizes Foofur and competes with him to win the affection of a basset hound named Dolly. 

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The film is about Ari (Mikko Nousiainen), a 27-year-old ambulance doctor with a terminally ill mother. One-night stands are his main pastime. He doesn't want to meet any of the girls again because he is certain that commitment equals pain. But one day Ari realises that he can't feel anything at all. Then he meets a woman named Tiina (Laura Malmivaara) on the beach. That same day they have sex in Ari's apartment and Tiina enters her phone number into Ari's in order to exchange contact details. At first Ari ignores Tiina's attempts to phone him to the amusement of his married colleague, Roope. Ari subsequently relents and they start dating each other reaching the point where Tiina, falling in love, begins to look for commitment. However, on Ari's birthday when Tiina brings him a cake to his apartment she arrives as another woman is leaving. Nonetheless she decides to maintain the relationship with him though expressing her desire for exclusivity. Ari is later introduced to Tiina's friends who include two other couples, Ilona an archaeologist who is dating Stig and Hanna-Riikka a priest who is dating and living with Riku. This introduction takes place as the five pre-existing companions sail to an island to celebrate the Mid-Summer Festival. During this holiday the six have a conversation in which Hanna-Riikka states that man is nothing without belief to which Ari immediately responds: "Then that must mean I am an ape." The others laugh and Hanna-Riikka walks out. Ilona shows a clear interest in Ari and later initiates a sexual encounter with him. This affair continues for an unspecified length of time during which Ari and Tiina move in together and Hanna-Riikka confronts Ari with her suspicions of what's happening between him and Ilona. When these are confirmed Hanna-Rikka also confronts Ilona about her behaviour and is accused of being a hypocritical lesbian. When the Ilona and Ari decide to have one last episode of intercourse they are discovered by Stig who tells Tiina about the affair and Ari moves out. Riku offers him use of his couch much to Hanna-Riikka's displeasure. Meanwhile, Tiina discovers that she is pregnant and later gets a commitment from Ari to resume the relationship with the aim of being a responsible father to their child. Late one night Ari is called to Roope's house because his heavy drinking has precipitated the breakdown of his marriage to Piia. Ari arrives to find Roope with a bottle of spirits and his revolver. After Roope tells him about the fallout of his alcoholism, Ari says that Piia is actually outside sulking in the front garden. Roope asks Ari to talk to his wife because he considers Ari more knowledgeable about how to talk to women and gives Ari his revolver to prevent him from killing himself. Later, when Ari goes to his old apartment Tiina tells him that the hospital has called to inform him of his mother's death. The pair attends the funeral together. Then the film progresses to Tiina and Ilona reconciling, as do Ari and Stig who asks Ari to be his best man as the affair with Ilona apparently helped clarify Stig's perspective of the relationship to the point where marriage appeared feasible. The wedding is to be officiated by Hanna-Riikka, who by now has separated from Riku, and to be held on the island where the six earlier holidayed. During one of the drinking games they usually engage in, Hanna-Rikka states that she has never climaxed during sexual intercourse prompting Riku to walk out and the two are later seen arguing. At the reception Ari, in deep contemplation, tells Tiina that they need to talk. Once they are alone Ari states "What are we going to do?" to which Tiina again questions the commitment of Ari by arguing that they should get married. Ari opposes her and says that they should separate. To this, Tiina is shocked, so she proceeds to drink excessively at the wedding prompting Ilona to try stop her. Tiina ends up revealing to the groom that Ari has, in fact, only recently slept with the bride and also the priest. This leads to a confrontation with Ari using the butt of Roope's former revolver to knock both Stig and Riku to the ground and he leaves the reception. The film ends with narrating Ari's thoughts as he gets away from it all by physically distancing himself by travelling, Tiina has given birth, Ilona is lecturing while Stig and Riku have maintained their friendship. In the last scene Ari returns to a church where Hanna-Riikka is working. 

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Snow-White and Rose-Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage by the woods. Fair-haired Snow-White is quiet and shy and prefers to spend her time indoors, doing housework and reading. Dark-haired Rose-Red is outspoken, lively and cheerful, and prefers to be outside. They are both very good girls who love each other and their mother dearly, and their mother is very fond of them as well. One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose-Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow-White and Rose-Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire. In the morning, he leaves trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter and the family grows used to him. Illustration for Josephine Pollard's book Hours in Fairy Land, published in 1883 When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril each time and the dwarf is ungrateful. Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear and begs it to eat the girls. Instead, the bear pays no heed to his plea and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Instantly, the bear turns into a prince. The dwarf had previously put a spell on the prince by stealing his precious stones and turning him into a bear. The curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow-White marries the prince and Rose-Red marries the prince's brother. 

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A Carnotaurus attacks a herd of dinosaurs, destroying an Iguanodon nest. The single surviving egg is stolen by Oviraptors, then by a Pteranodon, and eventually is dropped on an island inhabited by prehistoric lemurs. Plio; the daughter of their patriarch Yar, names the hatched baby Aladar and raises him alongside her daughter Suri, despite Yar's initial objections. Several years later, a fully grown Aladar and the lemurs take part in a mating ritual, in which Plio's brother Zini is unsuccessful. Moments after the ritual ends, they are interrupted by a meteor crashing into the Earth, creating an explosive shockwave which destroys the island. Aladar and Yar's family flee across the sea to the mainland. Being the only survivors, they mourn the others, before moving on. While crossing the burnt wasteland, they are attacked by a pack of Velociraptors. They escape by joining a crowd of Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus, Styracosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus, and Struthiomimus refugees heading for the communal Nesting Grounds. Falling afoul of herd leader Kron, they retreat to the end of the line and befriend the old Styracosaurus Eema, her pet Ankylosaur Url, and her equally elderly friend Baylene, the only Brachiosaur in the group. They travel for days without water to the site of a lake, only to find it seemingly dried up. Kron orders the herd to move on and let the weakest perish, but Aladar stays behind with a sick Eema, and he and Baylene dig until they find her some water. The rest of the herd follows suit, and Kron's sister Neera, impressed by Aladar's compassion, begins to grow closer to him, while Kron believes he wants to take over. Meanwhile, two Carnotaurs have been tracking the herd, and Kron's lieutenant Bruton and another scout are attacked - the scout is killed and a wounded Bruton escapes to warn Kron, only for Kron to pick up the pace and deliberately leave Bruton and the elderly dinosaurs behind to be killed. Aladar and the lemurs refuse to abandon them, though Neera is forced to. The group takes shelter in a cave, but are soon discovered and attacked by the pursuing Carnotaurs. Bruton sacrifices himself by causing a cave-in which kills the larger predator, forcing the smaller to retreat. The group ventures deeper into the cave, but they reach a dead end. Though Aladar briefly loses hope, Baylene uses her strength to smash through the wall, and they arrive at the Nesting Grounds on the other side. Eema notices that a landslide has blocked off the usual entrance to the valley. Aladar rushes off alone to warn the herd. Kron disbelieves his claims of a sheer drop on the other side, and tries to lead the herd to climb over the rocks. When Aladar insists there is a safer way, Kron attacks him, until Neera, fed up with Kron's illogical behavior, intervenes. Realizing Kron's selfishness, the herd follows Aladar, while Kron stubbornly tries to climb the rocks by himself. The hungry Carnotaurus arrives, but Aladar rallies everyone to stand together in defiance against it. The Carnotaur is frightened off, and goes after Kron instead. Aladar and Neera rush to save him, but fail to get there in time, though they avenge Kron by forcing the Carnotaur over the sheer drop to its death. Aladar then leads the herd back to the Nesting Grounds. Sometime later, a new generation of dinosaurs hatches, among them Aladar and Neera's children. Zini finds more lemurs, including some females interested in him. Plio muses on how they do not know what will come next, but hopes that their legend and struggles will be remembered in ages to come. 

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In 1972, college theatre student Richard Collier celebrates the debut of his new play. During the celebration, an elderly woman places a pocket watch in his hand and pleads, "Come back to me." Richard does not recognize the woman, who returns to her own residence and dies in her sleep that same night. Eight years later, Richard is a successful playwright living in Chicago. While struggling with writer's block, he decides to take a break from writing and travels to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. While exploring the hotel's hall of history, he becomes enthralled with a vintage photograph of Elise McKenna, a beautiful and famous early-20th century stage actress. Upon further research, he discovers she is the same woman who gave him the pocket watch. Richard visits Laura Roberts, Elise’s former housekeeper and companion. While there, he discovers a music box that plays the 18th variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, his favorite musical piece. Among Elise's personal effects is a book on time travel written by his old college professor, Dr. Gerard Finney. Richard becomes obsessed with traveling back to 1912 and meeting Elise, with whom he has fallen in love. Richard seeks out Professor Finney, who believes he briefly time traveled through the power of self-suggestion. Finney warns Richard that such a process would leave one very weak physically, perhaps dangerously so. Richard is determined to try. Dressed in an early 20th-century suit, he removes all modern objects from his hotel room and attempts to will himself to 1912 using tape-recorded suggestions. The attempt fails because he lacks real conviction, but after finding a hotel guest book from 1912 containing his signature, Richard realizes he will eventually succeed. Richard hypnotizes himself again, this time allowing his absolute faith in his eventual success to serve as the engine that transports him back to 1912. Richard finds Elise walking by the lake. Upon meeting him she asks, "Is it you?" Her manager, William Fawcett Robinson, abruptly intervenes and sends Richard away. Although Elise is initially uninterested, Richard pursues her until she agrees to accompany him on a stroll the next morning. During a boat ride, Richard hums the theme from the 18th variation of opus 43, a tune Elise has never heard before as it has yet to be written. Richard asks what Elise meant by, "Is it you?" She reveals that Robinson has predicted she will meet a man who will change her life, and that she should be afraid. Richard shows Elise the pocket watch she will give him in 1972. Richard attends Elise's play where she gives an impromptu monologue dedicated to him. During the intermission, Elise poses formally for a photograph but seeing Richard, breaks into a radiant smile. It is the same image Richard saw 68 years later. Afterward, Richard receives an urgent message from Robinson requesting a meeting. Robinson wants Richard to leave Elise, saying it is for her own good. When Richard says he loves her, Robinson has him bound and locked inside the stables. Robinson then tells Elise that Richard has left, though she does not believe him and professes her love for Richard. Richard wakes the next morning and frees himself. The acting troupe has already left for Denver, though Elise has returned to the hotel to find him. They go to her room and make love. They agree to marry and Elise promises to buy Richard a new suit, as his is about a decade out of style. Inside one of the suit pockets, Richard discovers a penny with a 1979 mint date. This modern item breaks the hypnotic suggestion, pulling Richard into the present as Elise screams in terror. Richard awakens back in 1980. His attempts to return to 1912 are unsuccessful. After wandering the hotel grounds despondently, physically weakened by the time travel and brokenhearted, he dies in despair. His spirit is drawn into the afterlife, where he is reunited with Elise. 

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In 1968, Deloris Wilson is a young Catholic school student, who is less than serious about her studies, much to the chagrin of her teacher nuns. In the present, the adult Deloris is a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada, performing as "Deloris Van Cartier". After Deloris witnesses her gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca execute an informant, police lieutenant Eddie Souther places her in witness protection. She is brought to Saint Katherine's Convent in Saint Katherine's Parish, a parish located in a run-down San Francisco neighborhood. Deloris initially objects, but relents, and goes along with it. The Reverend Mother, the head nun of St. Katherine's, also objects to taking Deloris in, but Monsignor O'Hara, a senior-ranking Catholic cleric who is the local Parish Priest, convinces her to go along with it, as the police will pay the failing convent a good sum of money. Disguised as "Sister Mary Clarence", Deloris struggles with the simplistic and rigid convent life, but starts to befriend the other nuns, including the perky heavyset Sister Mary Patrick, the shy young Sister Mary Robert, and the elderly deadpan Sister Mary Lazarus. One night, after a poorly attended Sunday Mass, with a lackluster performance from the convent choir, led by Mary Lazarus, Deloris sneaks out to a bar, followed by Mary Patrick and Mary Robert. They are caught by the Reverend Mother, and Deloris is forced to join the struggling choir. With her singing experience, Deloris is elected their new director, and she works to transform the choir. At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional performance of "Hail Holy Queen", before shifting into a gospel and rock-and-roll interpretation. Although the Reverend Mother is infuriated, Monsignor O'Hara congratulates the choir's unorthodox performance for attracting new people to the service. Convinced by Deloris, he allows the nuns to clean up the church, and the neighborhood. Their singing, and efforts to revitalize the neighborhood attract media attention, and the parish starts to thrive. Souther chastises Deloris for nearly being exposed on national television, as Vince has placed a bounty on her head. Deloris assures him that she will try to keep a lower profile, and Souther attends a mass. The choir continues to amaze parishioners and visitors, especially with a rendition of "My Guy" – rewritten as "My God". O'Hara informs the convent that Pope John Paul II, having heard of the choir’s success, will visit the church himself. Deloris tells the Reverend Mother that Vince’s upcoming trial means she will soon leave, and the Reverend Mother reveals she has resigned, believing she is no longer of use to the convent, as her authority was unintentionally undermined. Deloris tries to convince her to stay and keep things going, but the Reverend Mother believes herself too old-fashioned and uncapable to do so. Souther discovers a corrupt detective in his own department, who has given Deloris’ location to Vince, and rushes to San Francisco to warn Deloris. She and Mary Robert are kidnapped by Vince’s men, but Delores helps her escape. Afterwards, the Reverend Mother reveals Deloris’ identity to the nuns, and they decide to go to her rescue, requesting a helicopter pilot to fly them to Reno. There, Vince orders his men to kill Deloris, but they are reluctant to shoot her while she is dressed as a nun. Arriving at Vince's casino, the nuns find Deloris after she escapes from Vince’s men. They become trapped in the casino lounge, and Deloris prepares to sacrifice herself. Before Vince can shoot her, Souther arrives and arrests Vince and his men. Thanking Deloris for what she has done, the Reverend Mother decides to remain at the convent. Returning to San Francisco, the choir, led by Deloris, sing "I Will Follow Him" to a packed audience in a refurbished Saint Katherine's, receiving a standing ovation from all, including the Pope, O'Hara and Souther. Deloris continues to guide and coach the choir as a singing touring group. 

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Bettie Page is an ambitious, naïve, and devout young Christian woman who longs to leave Nashville, Tennessee, following a childhood of sexual abuse, a failed wartime marriage, and a gang rape. In 1949, she departs for New York City, where she enrolls in an acting class. Amateur photographer Jerry Tibbs discovers her walking on the beach at Coney Island and she agrees to model for him. He suggests she restyle her hair with the bangs that would become her trademark. Bettie becomes a favorite of nature photographers (including Bunny Yeager, who films her posing with two leopards), and she has no hesitation about removing her clothes for the photographers when asked. Before long images of the shapely brunette reach brother-and-sister entrepreneurs Paula and Irving Klaw, who run a respectable business selling movie stills and memorabilia, but also deal with fetish photos, magazines, and 8- and 16-millimeter films for additional income. Their top model Maxie takes Bettie under her wing, and she soon finds herself wearing leather corsets and thigh-high boots while wielding whips and chains for photographer John Willie, frequently at the request of Little John, a mild-mannered attorney with unusual tastes. Bettie is innocently unaware of the sexual nature of the images that rapidly are making her a star in the underground world of bondage aficionados. In 1955, Bettie is called to testify before a hearing, headed by Senator Estes Kefauver, investigating the effects of pornography on American youth. Though she waits patiently for 12 hours to answer the committee's questions, Kefauver, for reasons unknown, decides to not bring her before the committee and dismisses her without an explanation. When it becomes apparent that casting directors are more interested in her notoriety than in any acting talent she might possess, Bettie heads to Miami Beach. Drifting along with limited career prospects and a virtually nonexistent social life, she stumbles upon a small evangelical church, walks inside and rushes forward to embrace Jesus Christ during the altar call. Although she insists she is not ashamed of anything she has done in her life, she appears happy to leave her past behind and return to her spiritual roots by preaching the word of the Lord on street corners. Back in New York, Irving is stressed out and suffering from poor health. He decides that he and his sister must burn their vast collection of erotic photos and movie footage to avoid potential prosecution. Paula reluctantly complies with her brother's request, but secretly saves the negatives of many of Bettie's pictures and movies from the bonfire, therefore ensuring that Bettie's work will survive for future generations. 

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When a tremendous fire ravages a forest, a bear twice as tall as a man flees to the river island of Ortelga, and is found exhausted by Kelderek, a hunter who thinks the bear may be Lord Shardik, "the Power of God", returned to his worshippers. Kelderek shares his belief with the local barons and priestesses. The Ortelgans once ruled the Beklan Empire. Against the wishes of the Tuginda, the high priestess, a military campaign is launched to retake Bekla. The bear is sedated, caged, and carried to the campaign, awakening and breaking free in the middle of a battle which they are losing. Shardik's attack demoralises the enemy and the opposing army is routed. Shardik's worship is restored to central prominence in Bekla with Kelderek as priest-king. Five years into his rule, Bekla remains at war and there is discontent, particularly over the Ortelgans' expansion of legal slavery. When the bear escapes and flees again, Kelderek alone follows in pursuit. The two of them stagger through the wilderness for a long time, both of them on the brink of starvation and madness, meeting many foes along the way. Kelderek loses both ability and desire to continue, having lost his faith. Finally reaching Zeray, a lawless town beyond the borders of civilisation, he re-encounters the Tuginda and Melathys, a former priestess of Shardik, and the two fall in love. Kelderek is captured by Genshed, an unlicensed slave-trader with a large group of children, whom he delights in tormenting. Genshed is fleeing from insurrection forces who despise the slave trade, and many children do not survive the march. Genshed is on the point of killing Kelderek despite knowing his prisoner's value as the former ruler of Bekla, when the dying Shardik erupts from the woods. The bear attacks Genshed, mortally wounding him before collapsing dead in the river. Kelderek, his faith restored, returns to the town of Zeray with the children and is appointed its governor by Bekla's new rulers. Some years later, the town is now the home of so many orphans that children outnumber adults by two to one, and work in this society much like adults. Shardik's death is perceived as sacred and a sign that all children are to be valued. Kelderek and Methalys are married with two children of their own, beginning trade negotiations with an emissary from the distant kingdom of Zakalon. 

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A young psychic boy is taken aboard a starship at the request of the government. The boy is considered both a misfit and dangerous because he has the ability to read minds on earth. However, once aboard he travels into deep space where he comes into contact with a sentient starship. The mission of the crew is to somehow communicate with the alien craft and bring it back to earth. However, things don't go to plan when the young psychic makes contact and decides to take matters into his own hands. 

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The series focuses on Lan Hikari and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE as they build their friendship while dealing with threats from various NetCrime organizations. Along with Lan are friends Maylu Sakurai, Dex Ogreon, Yai Ayano, Tory Froid, and their respective Navis: Roll, GutsMan, Glide, IceMan. Although the series originally remains fairly close to the original Battle Network in terms of storyline, it begins to diverge greatly partway into the series. For example, there is no evidence showing that Lan and MegaMan were twin brothers in the anime, unlike in the games where it is revealed near the end of the first Battle Network game. 

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Three young women — Kelly MacNamara, Casey Anderson, and Petronella "Pet" Danforth — perform in a rock band, the Kelly Affair, managed by Harris Allsworth, Kelly's boyfriend. The four travel to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake, heiress to a family fortune. After Susan promises Kelly a third of her inheritance, Porter Hall, her sleazy financial advisor, discredits Kelly as a "hippie" to dissuade Susan from dividing the fortune he secretly wants to embezzle. Undeterred, Susan introduces the Kelly Affair to a flamboyant, well-connected rock producer, Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, who coaxes them into an impromptu performance at one of his outrageous parties (after a set by real-life band Strawberry Alarm Clock). The band is so well-received that becomes their svengali manager, changing their name to the Carrie Nations and starting a long-simmering feud with Harris. Kelly drifts away from Harris and dates Lance Rocke, a high-priced gigolo, who has his own designs on her inheritance. After losing Kelly, Harris is seduced by the sexually aggressive porn star Ashley St. Ives. She soon tires of his conventional nature and waning libido due to increasing drug and alcohol intake. Harris's further descent into drug and alcohol use leads to a fistfight with Lance and a one- night stand with Casey which results in pregnancy. Kelly ends her affair with Lance after he severely beats Harris. Casey, distraught at getting pregnant and wary of men's foibles, has a lesbian affair with clothes designer Roxanne, who pressures her to have an abortion. Petronella has a seemingly enchanted romance with law student Emerson Thorne after a meet cute at one of parties. Their fairy-tale romance frays when Pet sleeps with Randy Black, a violent prize fighter who beats up Emerson and tries to run him down with a car. Porter offers Kelly $50,000 to relinquish any claim to Susan's inheritance. When Kelly angrily rejects his offer at one of parties, Susan learns of his underhanded ploy and severs her ties with him. The Carrie Nations release several records despite constant touring and drug use. Upset at being pushed to the sidelines, Harris attempts suicide by leaping from the rafters of a sound stage during a television appearance by the band. Harris survives the fall but becomes paraplegic from his injuries. Kelly devotes herself to caring for Harris and Emerson forgives Petronella for her infidelity. Casey and Roxanne share a tender romance and Susan Lake is reunited with her former fiancé, Baxter Wolfe. This idyllic existence ends when invites Casey, Roxanne, and Lance to a psychedelic-fueled party at his house. After tries to seduce Lance, who spurns him, he reveals that he has breasts and is a female in drag. goes on a murderous rampage: he beheads Lance with a sword, stabs his servant Otto to death, and shoots Roxanne and Casey, killing them. Responding to a desperate phone call Casey made shortly before her death, Kelly, Harris, Pet, and Emerson arrive at house to subdue him. Petronella is wounded in the melee, which ends in death. Harris is able to move his feet, the start of his recovery from paralysis. Three couples — Kelly and Harris, Pet and Emerson, and Susan and Baxter — wed while Porter watches from outside the courthouse window. 

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Anthony Fait attempts to steal diamonds for a Frenchman named Christophe, who serves as the middleman for a mysterious employer. When Fait contacts Christophe, a Taiwanese Intelligence Agent named Su intercepts the conversation and attempts to identify the criminals. While the crew gathers up as many diamonds as they can, including a bag of black diamonds, Agent Su calls Fait and demands that he and his crew leave the diamonds in the vault, warning him that the police are on the way. However, Fait ignores this warning, and the criminals attempt a daring escape past a SWAT team blockade. While Fait, Daria, and Tommy all manage to escape, Agent Su captures Miles and recovers Miles' share of the diamonds. Su is disappointed to find that Miles does not have the black diamonds though. Meanwhile, Fait asks his friend Archie to appraise the black diamonds he had stolen. Arriving at the San Francisco International Airport, Christophe's mysterious employer, Ling, is informed, by his assistant Sona, that Christophe has been attacked and that Fait and his gang have taken the black diamonds. Later that night, Fait runs into Su. During this inadvertent meeting, Fait receives a phone call from Ling, who demands that Fait hand over the black diamonds. Fait refuses and is subsequently attacked by two of Ling's henchman. With Su's help, he defeats them and escapes. After the fight, Archie tells Fait that some gangsters came to his workshop and demanded the black diamonds as well. After some hesitation, Archie admits that he gave the stones to the gangsters to spare his own life. Fait also receives another call from Ling, who has kidnapped Fait's daughter, Vanessa, to persuade Fait to give up the diamonds. Now with a common enemy, Fait and Su team up to recover the diamonds from the gangsters and rescue Vanessa from Ling. Fait visits jailed crime lord "Jump" Chambers, most likely the employer of the gangsters who had robbed Archie. When Chambers refuses to cooperate, Fait goes to Chambers' night club, hoping to find the stones somewhere in his office. The plan goes awry, and Fait and the gang have to leave empty-handed. Meanwhile, Su and Archie go to an underground club to try to find the gangsters who attacked Archie. Because the club does not allow guests, Su is forced to enter as a fighter in the club's fighting ring. During Su's fight, Archie sees the man they are looking for, recognizing the man's ring. Through this informant, they learn that the diamonds are hidden in the bubble bath in Chamber's office. When they return to the nightclub to retrieve the diamonds, they find that Ling's men have already taken the stones. Meanwhile, while locked in a van, the bound and gagged Vanessa frees herself, and finds a cell phone to call her father. Just before the phone's battery runs out, Vanessa gives some clues as to her location. With these clues, the gang surmises that Vanessa is being held in an airport hangar. Realizing that Ling will want to auction off the stones, which are actually weapons of mass destruction, the group searches flight schedules to find an airport where a large number of private flights will be landing that night. Finding the right airport, the group races to the hangar, where Ling's auction is already starting. A fight ensues, and Fait and his crew take out members of Ling's team. However, Vanessa is rescued and Ling is killed after Su forces him to swallow a capsule of synthetic plutonium and then breaks the capsule lodged in his neck. When the police arrive, Fait promises to end his criminal career in order to lead a safe and happy life with Vanessa. 

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King Dedede has challenged Kirby and other members of Dream Land to an Avalanche Competition at the Fountain of Dreams. Kirby decides to take on the challenge, battling his way through the forest in Avalanche matches against an assortment of his old foes from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure (including recurring bosses such as Whispy Woods, Kracko and Meta Knight), and ultimately to a final showdown at the Fountain of Dreams with King Dedede to win the Cup. 

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The story begins with Neddy Merrill lounging at a friend's pool on a warm midsummer day. On a whim, Neddy decides to return home by swimming through all the pools in the neighborhood, which he names "the Lucinda River" to honor his wife. He begins the journey enthusiastic and full of youthful energy and, in the early stops on his journey, his friends enthusiastically greet him with drinks; it is readily apparent that he is well-regarded, and has an upper or upper-middle-class social standing. As his journey progresses, the story's tone gradually becomes darker and more surreal. Despite the ever-present afternoon light, it becomes unclear how much time has passed: at the beginning of the story it is clearly midsummer, but eventually all natural signs point to the season being autumn. Some old acquaintances Neddy encounters mention his financial problems, although he does not remember having such misfortunes. He is patently unwelcome at several houses belonging to owners of a lower social class. His earlier, youthful energy gradually declines, and it becomes increasingly painful and difficult for him to swim on. Finally, he staggers back home only to find his house decrepit, empty, and abandoned. 

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Captain David O'Keefe, seeking his fortune in the 19th century South Pacific, decides to enlist island natives to harvest copra, but runs into a wall of cultural problems. Backed by a Chinese dentist, he obtains a ship and sets about harvesting copra while fending off cantankerous native chieftains and ambitious German empire-builders. The natives, happy with their existence, see no reason to work hard to obtain copra, either for a German trading company or for O'Keefe. He finally motivates them by showing them how to produce large quantities of Rai stones, the stone money of Yap, their valued coinage. 

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In order to cast the world into eternal night, the Lord of Darkness sends the goblin Blix on a mission to kill the unicorns in the forest near his castle that guard the light and bring him their horns. Blix and his colleagues Pox and Blunder follow impetuous Princess Lili as she visits her forest-dwelling paramour Jack O'Greene, and they kiss for hours in the forest. After failed attempts to progress their relationship, Jack takes Lili to the lair of the unicorns. This is something that would be forbidden amongst mortals, had Jack not blindfolded Lili to keep the location hidden, and did all of it out of love. However, Lili distracts the stallion by stroking it, another forbidden act, allowing Blix to shoot it with a poison dart from his blowpipe, and the unicorns flee. With the couple unaware of the goblins, Lili makes light of Jack's fears concerning her sin and sets him a challenge by throwing her ring into a pond, declaring she will marry whoever finds it. While Jack dives in after the ring, the goblins find the dying stallion and sever its alicorn. An apocalyptic winter descends; Lili runs off in terror and Jack is barely able to break through the surface of the now frozen pond. Lili takes refuge in the frozen cottage of a kind and friendly family. There, Lili sees the goblins testing the alicorn's magical powers, and overhears from them about how she had a role in their slaying of the stallion, and by doing so, casting the dark winter onto the world. She follows the goblins to a rendezvous with Darkness, who tells them the world cannot be cast into eternal night as long as the surviving mare still lives. Blunder valiantly but unsuccessfully tries using the alicorn to overthrow Darkness and is taken away to his castle. Meanwhile, Jack, accompanied by the forest elf Honeythorn Gump, the fairy Oona, and the dwarves Brown Tom and Screwball, finds the mare mourning the lifeless stallion. Lamenting over his role in their current predicament, Jack cries and apologizes to the mare, who tells him the alicorn must be recovered and returned to the stallion. Leaving Brown Tom to guard the unicorns, Jack and the others retrieve a hidden cache of ancient weapons and armor. While they are gone, Lili tries to help make things right by helping to save the mare from the goblins, but they overpower Tom and capture both the mare and Lili. Learning of what has transpired, Jack and his group make their way to the castle in the middle of a swamp. On the way, they are nearly killed by a swamp hag named Meg Mucklebones, but defeat her by flattering her appearance and then decapitating her. After reaching the castle, Jack's group falls into an underground prison cell in a hellish kitchen. They encounter Blunder in the same cell, revealed to be an elf gone astray, before he is dragged off by an ogre cook to be baked into a pie. Oona offers to use her magic to escape their cell and retrieve keys to free the others if she receives a kiss from Jack. He is tempted when Oona turns into an amorous Lili, but refuses to follow through, telling her "human hearts don't work that way". Oona is greatly offended and scolds Jack, reminding him it was his lust that caused the apocalypse. Despite this, she remembers what's at stake and frees everyone so they can all search for Lili and the mare. Having fallen in love with Lili, Darkness tempts her with jewelry, a beautiful dress and promises of power and glory. Seemingly seduced, she agrees to wed him under the condition that she will be the one to kill the mare in the upcoming ritual. Overhearing their conversation, Jack and Gump learn that Darkness can be destroyed by daylight. After saving Blunder, the group takes the ogres' giant metal platters to reflect the sunlight to the chamber where the mare is to be sacrificed. As the ritual begins, Lili frees the mare, but is knocked out by Darkness. While the others relay the light of the setting sun using the platters, Jack fights Darkness, finally wounding him with the severed alicorn. As the redirected sunlight blasts him to the edge of a void, Darkness warns them that because evil lurks in everyone, he will never truly be vanquished. Jack hesitates as he realizes this to be true, but overcomes his doubt and severs the evil hand holding the alicorn, thus expelling him into the void. Gump returns the stallion's horn, returning him to life and ending the winter. Jack retrieves the mystic ring from the pond and returns it to Lili, returning her to life. 

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The film is set in British South Africa, in the province of Natal, in January 1879. The first act of the film revolves around the administrators and officials of Cape Colony, notably the supremely arrogant Lord Chelmsford and the scheming Sir Henry Bartle Frere, who both wish to crush the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which is perceived as a threat to Cape Colony's emerging industrial economy. Bartle Frere issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding that he dissolve the Zulu Empire. Cetshwayo refuses, providing Cape Colony with a pretext to invade Zululand. Despite objections from leading members of Cape Colony's high society and from Great Britain itself, Bartle Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to lead a British invasion force into Zululand. The rest of the film focuses on the British invasion of Zululand and the lead-up to the Battle of Isandlwana. The invading British army, laden with an immense network of supply wagons, invades Zululand and marches in the direction of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. British forces, eager to fight a large battle in which they can unleash their cutting-edge military technology against the vast Zulu army, become increasingly frustrated as the main Zulu army refuses to attack the British, and fighting is restricted to a few small skirmishes between British and Zulu scouts. Concerned that their supply lines are becoming overstretched and that the main Zulu army is still at large, British troops begin torturing captive Zulu warriors in an effort to learn the location and tactics of the Zulu army. Halfway to Ulundi, Chelmsford halts his army at the base of Mount Isandhlwana, ignoring the advice of Boer attendants to entrench the camp and laager the supply wagons, leaving the camp dangerously exposed. During the night, Colonel Durnford and an escort of fifty mounted Basutos approach the camp. Lord Chelmsford then orders Durnford to return to his unit, bringing them to the camp immediately to reinforce Colonel Pulleine. Lt. Vereker should join Durnford as aide-de-camp. Reacting to false intelligence, Chelmsford leads half of the British army, including the best infantry, cavalry and artillery units, on a wild goose chase far from the camp, in pursuit of a phantom Zulu army. On the day of battle, Durnford and his troops arrive at 11:00 a.m. at the camp at Isandlwana. Meanwhile, the Zulu captives escape from their torturers and regroup with the Zulu army, informing them of the British army's direction and strength. After having lunch with Colonel Pulleine and Lt. Vereker, Durnford quickly decides to send Vereker to scout the hills. Durnford then decides to take his own command out from the camp too, and scout the iNyoni heights. The entire Zulu army is later discovered by men of Lt. Vereker's troop of scouts. Chasing a number of Zulu herdsmen trying to hurry away their cattle, they discover the main Zulu enemy force of thousands at the bottom of a valley. Lt. Vereker sends Lt. Raw to warn the camp that it is about to be attacked. As Zulu impis descend upon the camp, Durnford's cavalry retreat to a donga in an effort to hold back the Zulu advance. Forced back, the British take heavy casualties, including the battery of Hale rockets, which is overrun by the Zulus. Initially, the British infantry succeed in defending the camp, and Zulu forces retreat under a hail of artillery fire. British units defending the camp are now becoming dangerously spread-out, and are oblivious to Zulu forces moving round the sides of the mountain in an encircling move. As British infantrymen begin to run out of ammunition due to the Quartermaster's incompetent distribution and the British cavalry are driven back towards the camp, Zulu warriors charge the British troops en masse, sustaining horrific casualties, but succeed in breaking the British lines. As British troops break and flee towards the camp, the battle breaks down into hand-to-hand fighting between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, amongst the débris of tents, fallen soldiers and supply wagons. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of Zulu warriors, British soldiers and their Afrikaner allies are slaughtered in the camp, some being cut down as they attempt to flee towards Natal. During the last minutes of the battle, the camp's commander, Colonel Pulleine, entrusts the Queen's Colours of the 2nd battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot to two junior officers, Lts. Melvill and Coghill, who attempt to carry them to safety in Natal, passing gruesome scenes as Zulu warriors hunt down British and Afrikaner infantrymen attempting to flee across the river. Pulleine was speared in his tent during the skirmish. While crossing the Buffalo River, the three lieutenants are cut down by Zulus and the Colours (a Union Flag embroidered with the Regiment's insignia) are captured. Lying wounded, perhaps mortally, Vereker shoots and kills the Zulu wielding the Colours, and the Colours fall gracefully into the river, where they are carried out of reach. In the evening, Chelmsford and the rest of the British army return to Isandlwana, to be greeted by the sight of their slaughtered comrades, and the news that a mass Zulu army has invaded Natal and laid siege to Rorke's Drift. The film ends with Zulu warriors in a silhouetted victory procession, dragging captured British artillery back to Ulundi. 

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The Warlock, whose actual name is both unknown and unpronounceable, is a powerful sorcerer in excess of 200 years of age. He observes that when he stays in one place too long, his powers dwindle and will return only when he leaves that place. Experimentation leads him to create an apparatus (now known as the Warlock's Wheel) consisting of a metal disc enchanted to spin perpetually. The enchantment eventually consumes all the mana in the vicinity, causing a localized failure in all magic. The Warlock realizes that magic is fueled by a non-renewable resource, which would cause great concern among the magicians, as it was through their magic that nations enforced their wills both internally and abroad. The widespread diminishing of magical power in The Magic Goes Away triggered a quest on the part of the most powerful of the magicians of the time to harness a new source of magic (the Moon), resulting in the events described in the book. It was eventually discovered (in The Magic May Return) that mana was originally carried to Earth and the other bodies of the solar system on the solar wind, replenishing mana slowly over time. However, at some point in the "recent" past (a few thousand years ago) a god created an invisible shield between Earth and Sun that intercepted the solar mana and caused the eventual decline of magic on Earth. Traditional fantasy creatures inhabit Niven's Magic universe, but devolve to normal animals when deprived of mana. For example, a unicorn becomes a simple horse. 

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Copying his father's approach of focusing on the most important officers of the two armies (General Robert E. Lee, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain), Shaara depicted the emotional drama of soldiers fighting old friends while accurately detailing historical details including troop movements, strategies, and tactical combat situations. General Hancock, for instance, spends much of the novel dreading the day he will have to fire on his friend in the Confederate Army, Lewis "Lo" Armistead. The novel also deals with General Lee's disillusionment with the Confederate bureaucracy and General Jackson's religious fervor. In addition to covering events leading up to the war, the book includes the battles of First Bull Run, covered only from the perspective of Robert E. Lee, who was in Richmond at the time and thus not at the battle, Williamsburg, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. The film version provides only cursory coverage of immediate pre-war events, focusing primarily on Jackson and the secession of Virginia, and omits Antietam (included in the Director's Cut) along with Williamsburg and Second Bull Run. It spends a considerable amount of time on First Bull Run, which played only a minor role in the book. 

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The governing body of the galaxy, the Galactic Federation, receives a strange telepathic message. The Federation broadcasts a message to bounty hunter Samus Aran, asking her to investigate and retrieve the "ultimate power", and should it prove irretrievable, to keep it secret or destroy it outright. Six other bounty hunters intercept the transmission and proceed to the Alimbic solar system to claim the power for themselves.Official Nintendo Player's Guide 2006. "Adventure Mode". pp. 20–67. Through investigation of the planets and space stations that orbit the Alimbic sun, Samus gradually pieces together the history of the Alimbic race. She discovers that they were a peaceful, spiritual, highly evolved society.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: History 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Compression Chamber. "We were a peaceful people, but we defended our homeworld with a fierce determination." The Alimbic utopia was shattered when a comet struck the planet (Alinos), and out of it emerged a monstrous creature named Gorea.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 03. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "At first we thought GOREA was a comet. It crashed upon our planet and emerged as a vapor." The creature copied the cellular structure of the Alimbics, physically mimicking them and their weapons,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 04. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "GOREA mimicked our cellular structure and replicated itself in solid form." and destroyed their civilization.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 07. Area: Celestial Archives New Arrival Registration. "Our defenses were useless against GOREA as it swept through our empire in an orgy of annihilation." Unable to stop Gorea's rampage, the last of their race transformed themselves into focused telepathic energy,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic War 11. Area: Arcterra Subterranean. "To contain GOREA, our people reduced themselves to pure telepathic energy through the process of ESSENCE TRANSFERENCE." then confined Gorea into a "Seal Sphere",Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 01. Area: Arcterra Fault Line. "The monster cannot be defeated. As a last resort, we created the SEAL SPHERE to cage the horror for all eternity." which they placed in a starship called the Oubliette.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 03. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "The ALIMBIC CANNON creates a fissure between this dimension and the INFINITY VOID that houses GOREA's prison, known as the OUBLIETTE." The ship was launched into a dimensional rift called the Infinity Void,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "We have sent the OUBLIETTE beyond this dimension to ensure that the galaxy will never again suffer the horror that is GOREA."Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon 01. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. "The ALIMBIC CANNON issues bursts of polarized antimatter beyond light speed at specified coordinates and frequency to open a dimensional rift known as the INFINITY VOID." to be released only when eight keys called "Octoliths" were assembled.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Order 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Fuel Stack. "Reunite all EIGHT OCTOLITHS in the CANNON CONTROL ROOM to open the doorway to GOREA." After warding off the other bounty hunters, Samus retrieves the eight Octoliths and opens the Infinity Void.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon opens the Infinity Void. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. Here, she and the other six hunters confront Gorea, who originated the telepathic message in an attempt to free itself. After the beast absorbs the powers of Samus' rivals,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea boss intro. Area: Oubliette. she defeats Gorea using the Alimbic weapon called the "Omega Cannon". As Samus and the other hunters evacuate the exploding Oubliette on their respective ships, three Alimbic spirits appear before an armorless Samus, and honor her with a salute.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Good ending. Area: Oubliette. 

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In 1952, a semester before Ernesto "Fuser" Guevara is due to complete his medical degree, he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires to travel across South America. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is initially fun and adventure. They desire to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than in just four and a half months, while Granado's purpose is also to bed as many women as will fall for his pickup lines. Their initial method of transport is Granado's dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle christened La Poderosa ("The Mighty One"). Their planned route is ambitious, bringing them north across the Andes, along the coast of Chile, through the Atacama Desert and into the Peruvian Amazon in order to reach Venezuela just in time for Granado's 30th birthday on 2 April. However, due to La Poderosa's breakdown, they are forced to travel at a much slower pace, often walking, and don't make it to Caracas until July. During their expedition, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of the indigenous peasants, and the movie assumes a greater seriousness once the men gain a better sense of the disparity between the "haves" (to which they belong) and the obviously exploited "have-nots" (who make up the majority of those they encounter) by travelling on foot. In Chile, for instance, they encounter a penniless and persecuted couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs. In a fire-lit scene, Guevara and Granado ashamedly admit to the couple that they are not out looking for work as well. The duo then accompanies the couple to the Chuquicamata copper mine, where Guevara becomes angry at the treatment of the workers. However, it is a visit to the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru that solidifies something in Guevara. His musings are then somberly refocused to how an indigenous civilization capable of building such beauty could be destroyed by the creators of the eventual polluted urban decay of nearby Lima.Excerpted Clip of Machu Picchu from the film The Motorcycle Diaries directed by Walter Salles, distributed by Focus Features, 2004 His reflections are interrupted by Granado, who shares with him a dream to peacefully revolutionize and transform modern South America, to which Guevara quickly retorts: "A revolution without guns? It will never work." Later, in Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. There, Guevara observes both literally and metaphorically the division of society, as the staff live on the north side of a river, separated from the deprived lepers living across the river to the south. To demonstrate his solidarity, and his medical belief that leprosy is not contagious, Guevara refuses to wear rubber gloves during his visit as the head nun requires, choosing instead to shake bare hands and interact normally with the surprised leper patients. At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, revolutionary impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it, he invokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends the arbitrary boundaries of both nation and race. These encounters with social injustice transform the way Guevara sees the world and his purposes in it, and by implication motivates his later political activities as a Marxist revolutionary. Guevara makes his symbolic "final journey" at night when, despite the danger and his asthma, he swims across the river that separates the two societies of the leper colony, to spend the night in a leper shack, instead of in the doctors' cabins. Later, as they bid each other farewell at an airport, Granado reveals that his birthday was not 2 April, but rather 8 August, and that the aforementioned goal was simply a motivator: Guevara replies that he knew all along. The film closes with an appearance by the real 82-year-old Alberto Granado, along with pictures from the actual journey and a brief mention of Che Guevara's eventual 1967 CIA-assisted execution in the Bolivian jungle. 

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In the screenplay's story, which takes place 75 million years before modern times, an evil galactic ruler, named Xenu, massacres millions of people with assistance from Chu, the Executive President of the Galactic Interplanetary Bank, and Chi, the Galactic Minister of Police. Xenu's psychiatric advisers, Stug and Sty, help him gather "unwanted" beings from all of the planets in his control and transport them to Earth. The beings are stacked around the bases of Earth's volcanoes including Loa, Mount Vesuvius, Mount Shasta, Mount Fuji, Mount Etna and others, and exterminated by detonating planted charges of atomic bombs. In his script, Hubbard wrote: "great winds raced simultaneously across the face of Earth, spreading tales of destruction..." Xenu's massacre of these beings is called "Phase III." A character named Mish is one of the only "Loyal Officers" who survives Xenu's organized massacre, and other characters include Lady Min and a hero figure, Rawl. 

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Eccentric multimillionaire Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert), whose main purpose in life is raising American morals through a nationwide campaign, wants to be assured that his fortune will be inherited by upstanding relatives. He visits his cousin Matilda Hemingway (ZaSu Pitts) in New York City, in Horace's view the center of immorality in America. What Ounce finds most offensive are musical comedy shows and the people who put them on, and it just so happens that Matilda's daughter Barbara (Ruby Keeler) is a dancer and singer in love with a struggling singer and songwriter, her 13th cousin, Jimmy Higgens (Dick Powell). On Ezra's instructions, Jimmy the "black sheep" has been ostracized by the family, on pain of not receiving their inheritance. Matilda's husband Horace (Guy Kibbee) meets a showgirl named Mabel (Joan Blondell), who's been stranded in Troy when her show folds, and connives her way into sleeping in Horace's train compartment as a way to get back home. Terrified of scandal, he leaves her some money and his business card, along with a note telling her to not mention their meeting to anyone; but when Mabel discovers that Horace is Barbara's father, she blackmails him into backing Jimmy's show.Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 33 

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Together is set in one of the sharehome communes that was created around Stockholm in the 1970s. Loosely led by the kind-natured Göran, who will do anything to avoid a conflict, the group spend their time arguing about left-wing politics and other more practical issues, such as whether doing the dishes is bourgeois. The sharehome's dynamics are significantly shaken when Göran's sister, Elisabeth, leaves her violent husband Rolf and moves in, bringing her two children Eva and Stefan. Self- declared lesbian Anna lives in the commune with her ex-husband Lasse and their son Tet (named after the Tet offensive), who befriends Stefan. The two play games such as "torture the Pinochet victim" where, in the spirit of equality, they take turns at being Augusto Pinochet. Eva meanwhile befriends a lonely boy across the street named Fredrik; his family appears conventional on the surface but proves to be even more dysfunctional than the commune of which they so openly disapprove. The children are portrayed as sidelined by everyone in the film, from the new school where they are bullied to the parents who, while genuinely loving, are too busy experimenting with their own freedom to show it. Elisabeth's husband Rolf makes a concerted effort to clean up his act, although not before getting drunk and arrested, leaving his children stranded on a roadside after a disastrous meal in a Chinese restaurant. Further relationship problems are found with Klas, who is desperately in love with Lasse, and between Göran and his selfish and immature girlfriend, who wants the benefits of an open relationship but not the responsibilities. 

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The film begins with a figure running towards a motorway bridge. When the figure turns around, the film introduces the audience to Lilya Michailova, an adolescent girl who has recently been badly beaten. The film then reveals her past. Lilya lives with her mother in a run-down apartment block in an unnamed former republic of the Soviet Union. Lilya's mother tells her they are emigrating to the United States with the mother's new boyfriend, but instead, she abandons Lilya in the care of her aunt while she and the boyfriend move to America. The aunt moves herself into the larger, nicer flat Lilya and her mother had lived in while forcing Lilya to move into a smaller, squalid apartment. A subsequent succession of humiliations and miseries are heaped upon Lilya. Her best friend encourages her to join her in prostitution, but Lilya declines. When money is discovered in the friend's possession, she lies and says the money belongs to Lilya, whose reputation is subsequently ruined in the community and at school. This culminates in Lilya being raped by a group of boys she knows. She ultimately has to actually become a prostitute to support herself. Meanwhile, Lilya forms another close, protective friendship with a younger boy named Volodya, who is physically abused by his alcoholic single father. She buys Volodya a basketball, but his father punctures it with a pair of scissors. She then meets a young man, Andrei, who becomes her boyfriend and convinces her to move to Sweden, where he says they'll live together. After arriving in Sweden, she is instead met by a pimp who takes her to a nearly empty apartment, where he imprisons and rapes her. Lilya is then forced to perform sexual acts for a large number of clients. Despondent over the departure of the only person who cared about him, Volodya commits suicide, his soul taking the form of an angel. As an angel, Volodya comes to Lilya to watch over her. On Christmas Day, he transports Lilya to the roof of the apartment building where they lived and, deeply regretting having killed himself, gives her the world as a present. However, a disillusioned Lilya rejects it. After an escape attempt, Lilya is violently beaten by her pimp, but she escapes again successfully. With the story arriving full circle to the scene at the beginning of the film, Lilya jumps from the bridge and commits suicide herself. The film's conclusion presents two different endings. One version shows Lilya being sent back in time after killing herself to when she made the decision to go to Sweden with Andrei. However, this time she rejects Andrei's offer, and she and Volodya are shown to presumably live happier lives. In the final scene, Lilya and Volodya are both angels happily playing basketball on the roof of a tenement building. 

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Emma Brody is a young musician who has been blind for 20 years. New surgery techniques restore her vision but initially cause "vision flashes" that leave her uncertain about what she sees. One night, she is awakened by a noise in the apartment above. Peeking out her door, she "sees" a figure descending the stairs. She contacts the police, worried that her neighbor has been murdered, but is unsure whether it was just her new vision deceiving her. The killer then begins to stalk Emma. 

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Playing by Heart is an ensemble work, that explores the path of love in its character's lives. Among the characters are an older couple, whom about to renew their wedding vows (Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands); a theatre director (Gillian Anderson) and architect (Jon Stewart) navigating a new beginning; a gay man dying of AIDS (Jay Mohr) and his mother (Ellen Burstyn) who had not been close; a couple having an affair (Anthony Edwards and Madeleine Stowe) and her husband (Dennis Quaid) who is exploring ways to break, through the staleness of their marriage. As the film continues, and the stories evolve, the connections between the characters become evident. Kellie Waymire, Nastassja Kinski, Alec Mapa, Amanda Peet and Michael Emerson also have roles in the film. 

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In 1532 a Spanish orphan named Esteban joins Mendoza, a navigator, and his associates Sancho and Pedro, in their search for one of the Seven Cities of Gold in the New World, hoping to find his father. They are joined on their quest by Zia, an Incan girl (who was kidnapped by Gomez, Gaspard, Perez and Mendoza), and Tao, the last descendant of the sunken empire of Mu (Hiva in the English dub). The series is a mix of ancient South American history, archaeology, and science fiction. The travellers encounter the Maya, Inca, and Olmecs during their journey. They discover many lost technological wonders of the Mu Empire, including a solar-powered ship (the Solaris) and The Golden Condor, a huge solar-powered ornithopter (mechanical bird), capable of traveling considerable distances under the sun's power alone. They are constantly pursued by antagonists Gomez and Gaspard, who are also in search of the Cities of Gold. The Seven Cities of Gold were built by the Emperor of Hiva over fear of a global war which would destroy all civilization. Such a war did break out, destroying the Empires of Mu and Atlantis when they used the "Weapons of the Sun". The Seven Cities of Gold hold copies of books in their "Universal Libraries" as well as powerful artifacts, including the "Great Legacy", a portable fusion reactor. Other elements of this technology turn up in unexpected places, like the Solaris in Tao's home island, Esteban's and Zia's medallions as keys to the Cities, or Tao's jar as an important piece of the Great Legacy. Reminiscences of this ancient story are present in Inca legends written on golden quipu, which only Zia can read. This triggers an obsessive quest for the Cities of Gold on the part of the Spaniards Mendoza, Gomez, Gaspard and Francisco Pizarro. Esteban seeks his long-lost father and is tied to Mendoza, who rescued Esteban from a sinking ship when he was a baby. Esteban seems to have a magical ability to make the Sun appear, which proves to be an invaluable asset throughout the series. Zia also seeks her father, from whom she was taken when she was seven and brought to Spain as a gift to the princess. She has a medallion just like the one Esteban carries. Tao seeks signs of his ancestors. He possesses an encyclopedia about their lost technology and a mysterious jar which according to the legend, only the High Priest of the City of Gold can open and proves to be the Great Legacy's cooling or control rod system. Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro are motivated by their search for gold, though Mendoza appears to be genuinely fond of the three children. The Olmecs are the descendants of survivors of the global war who hid under their mountain. Only their elite were able to survive, suspended in cryogenic hibernation. The Olmecs do not appear to be human—or if they were once Human, it is implied that they have horribly mutated from the fallout of the nuclear war that destroyed their ancestors. They are short, thin and have pointed ears and enlarged frontal bones. They are highly intelligent but devious and selfish. Led by their king, Menator, the Olmecs seek an artifact called the "Great Legacy" in order to power their cryogenic systems, as well as samples of healthy cells from the children in order to combat their mutations and their sterility. Their technology is generally inferior to that of the modern age, and they use weapons such as spears and swords. They maintain some elements of their advanced technological heritage, such as the stasis and medical technology used to keep the elite of the Olmecs in suspended animation until an opportunity arises when they can be revived, powered by what appears to be a geothermal power system. This power system is destroyed in an escape by the children and Mendoza, starting a frantic search by the Olmecs for the fusion reactor core (the Great Treasure) hidden in the City of Gold. They also have a single flying machine that appears to use very similar technology to that of the Golden Condor. It is armed with some kind of particle beam or focused heat weapon of great power. Eventually the Olmecs succeed, at great cost, in taking control of the Great Legacy. It begins to melt down without the moderation provided by Tao's jar. The resulting earthquakes and volcanism destroy the City of Gold. A world-threatening meltdown is avoided by the personal sacrifice of Esteban's father who, acting as the High Priest of the Cities, is presumed to be dead after replacing the jar. At the end of the series Mendoza, Sancho, and Pedro, having salvaged some gold before the city's destruction, return to Spain—while Esteban and his friends set out across the Pacific on the golden condor in search of the remaining Cities. 

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Laura Burney has a seemingly idyllic life and perfect marriage to Martin, a successful Boston investment counselor. Beneath Martin's charming, handsome exterior, however, is an obsessive and controlling personality who has physically, emotionally, and sexually abused Laura throughout their nearly four-year marriage. On one occasion, Martin jealously claims that Laura has flirted with their new Cape Cod neighbor, an attractive doctor she has only glimpsed distantly before physically assaulting her, then later, in a recurring pattern, apologetically showers her with flowers and gifts. Martin accepts the doctor's invitation for an evening sail, despite knowing Laura fears water. As a severe storm unexpectedly rolls in, Martin and the doctor struggle to control the vessel. Laura, unable to swim, is apparently swept overboard. After an extensive Coast Guard search, Laura is presumed drowned. A memorial service follows, and Martin is left inconsolable. It is shown that Laura is alive. After secretly learning to swim, Laura planned her fake death to escape Martin's abuse, waiting for an opportune moment. During the storm, Laura jumped overboard, swam ashore, and returned home. Laura quickly changes her clothes, dons a wig, and gathers some stashed belongings and money before heading to a nearby bus station. Before leaving, she flushes her wedding band down the toilet. Laura moves to Cedar Falls, Iowa. Previously, Laura told Martin that her blind, stroke-impaired mother, Chloe, died, but she secretly moved Chloe to an Iowa nursing home. Laura rents a house, finds a job, and settles into a new life as "Sara Waters". Her friendly neighbor, Ben Woodward, a young drama teacher at a local college, is attracted to Laura, though he gradually suspects she has a troubled past. They eventually have a fun date, but when a kiss turns more physical, Laura resists and demands Ben to leave. The next morning, Laura confides to him that she escaped an abusive marriage. Meanwhile, Martin receives information indicating Laura may be alive and that Chloe never died. This is confirmed when Martin finds Laura's wedding ring in the toilet where it failed to flush. Martin travels to Chloe's nursing home, posing as a detective investigating Laura's husband. He learns that Chloe's "nephew" has just visited. Laura, disguised as a man, is also at the nursing home, and, unknowingly, barely misses encountering Martin. Martin discovers Laura's whereabouts and learns about Ben, whom he tracks to the college. Martin later trails the couple to Laura's house and breaks in while she and Ben are picnicking outside. Laura notices the small clues Martin deliberately left inside the house, including straightened towels and the kitchen cabinets rearranged to Martin's exacting standards. Martin confronts Laura before she can escape. Ben comes to the front door, and to protect him, Laura begs off, claiming fatigue. Ben appears to leave, but breaks down the door and struggles with Martin, who knocks him unconscious. As he aims a gun at Ben, Laura distracts Martin, then knees his groin. Laura grabs Martin's dropped gun and holds him at gunpoint. Calling the police, she informs them she killed an intruder. Hanging up, she shoots Martin. He collapses, seemingly dead. Still alive, he seizes Laura by the hair and grabs the dropped gun, aiming it at her. Martin pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. Martin finally dies from his wounds. Laura helps Ben as they wait for the police. 

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Three years after inventor Wayne Szalinski accidentally shrunk his and his next door neighbor's kids, his family have moved to Nevada and have welcomed a new son, mischievous two-year old Adam. One day, Wayne's wife, Diane, leaves with their daughter, Amy, to help her settle in her dorm at college, leaving Wayne to look after Adam and their teenage son, Nick, who struggles with puberty. He has developed a crush on Mandy Park, who Wayne later arranges to babysit Adam. The next day, Wayne takes Nick and Adam to Sterling Labs, where he has constructed an advanced derivative of his shrink ray which could make objects grow. He tests it out on Adam's favorite toy, Big Bunny. However, when his and Nick's backs are turned, Adam attempts to retrieve it and is zapped by the machine, which appears to short circuit and not enlarge the targeted object. Back home, Adam and Big Bunny are exposed to electrical waves from the microwave oven and grow in size, now seven feet tall. Wayne and Nick try to take him back to the lab to reverse the process, but are caught and kicked out by Wayne's coworker, Dr. Charles Hendrickson, who dislikes him and wants to take over Wayne's invention for himself. Diane returns home early and discovers what happened, and she, Wayne, and Nick have a hard time trying to take care of the large Adam. Later, Wayne and Diane drive to a warehouse and retrieve Wayne's first prototype to turn Adam back to normal, with Wayne unintentionally test firing his original prototype on a pair of Nevada Highway Patrol motorcycle troopers pursuing his van for speeding to make sure it still worked before Diane orders him to return them to normal, leaving the troopers completely spooked by the experience. When Mandy arrives to babysit Adam, she panics and faints, forcing Nick to tie her to a chair and gags her so she cannot run away or scream. As he explains the situation to her, Adam is exposed to the television's electrical waves and grows to fourteen feet before escaping through a wall. Nick and Mandy search for him, but are taken into custody, with Adam placed into a truck. Wayne and Diane return home, finding the smug Dr. Hendrickson waiting for them. He has summoned Clifford Sterling, the company chairman, with the plan to fire Wayne, have him and Diane arrested, and experiment on Adam. Sterling arrives, praises Wayne when he admits his mistake, and pledges to help Adam while firing Dr. Hendrickson, much to Wayne's and Diane's amazement. At the same time, the truck carrying Adam passes by high voltage lines, exposing him to more electrical waves and causing him to grow even larger, escaping confinement. He mistakes Nick and Mandy for toys and puts them in his overalls pocket before heading for Las Vegas, pursued by his parents and the authorities. Wayne and Clifford figure out the cause of his growth and realize that exposure to Las Vegas' neon lights will make him grow bigger than ever. The infuriated Dr. Hendrickson refuses to accept his dismissal and turns to board director Terrence Wheeler and they plan to start a boardroom coup to take Sterling out of power. With his permission, Dr. Hendrickson forcefully boards a military helicopter to attempt to tranquilize Adam, despite the pilot's reluctance. Wayne is determined to use his shrinking machine to shrink Adam back to normal, but needs him to stand still for twelve seconds so he can be shrunk. At first, he tries using Big Bunny to pacify him, but it backfires when Wayne suggests for Adam to take a nap (which the baby hates). After growing to 112 feet and wandering through Las Vegas, causing a panic among the crowd, he pursues an ice cream truck driven by Marshall Preston Brooks to distract him away from the city while Sterling has the various hotels and casinos shut off their lights to avoid making Adam grow more. However, Adam then heads towards the Hard Rock Café, where he plays the lit up guitar. Diane realizes Adam just wants to play and doesn't fully acknowledge the damage he's causing, and deduces he will behave should she be enlarged as well. Dr. Hendrickson arrives in the helicopter and starts shooting tranquilizer cartridges at Adam, hitting the guitar instead, causing Adam to cry out in pain of the electric shock. As the panicked crowd begins to feel sorry for Adam and Dr. Hendrickson adamantly attempts to strike again, a giant-sized Diane arrives and stops the helicopter. She then comforts Adam and manages to get him to stand still for the needed time period for the shrinking ray to work. Wayne then fires it, returning them to normal size. Dr. Hendrickson arrives and attempts to justify his actions, but a furious Diane knocks him out cold with a punch to the face. Wayne and Diane then realize that Nick and Mandy had somehow disappeared from Adam's overalls pocket. It is then revealed that the two teens, along with the Lotus Elan M100 that Adam retrieved during his rampage, have been shrunk to the size of insects. They are quickly found by Wayne, who decides to give them a few minutes of privacy before returning them to normal size. The only problem left now pointed out by a state trooper with the Szalinskis is how to shrink the gigantic Big Bunny. 

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A kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales and their infant son occurs at the Mall in London. The attack is orchestrated by members of the Ulster Liberation Army, an ideologically Maoist and ultra-radical Irish terrorist group splintered from the Provisional Irish Republican Army. However, Jack Ryan, who happens to be nearby, interferes with their operation, incapacitating one of the attackers, Sean Miller, and killing the other, John Michael McCrory. During the gun battle, Ryan is shot in the shoulder by McCrory as they exchange fire. Miller is later arrested. While recovering from his shoulder wound, Ryan is honored by the British government and later becomes a knight. Meanwhile, Miller is sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping attempt; however, his ULA compatriots led by Kevin O’Donnell free him while he is being transported to a maximum security prison in the Isle of Wight. They are then aided by Libyan allies in escaping into their secret training camp in the North African desert. Miller vows revenge on Ryan for making his recent operation fail. Ryan is back teaching history in the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, relieved with the fact that the ULA will not attack him in the United States. Unbeknownst to him, Miller had persuaded his superior O’Donnell to launch an operation in the U.S. aimed at targeting Ryan and his family, and had recruited the assistance of an African-American domestic terrorist group referred to as “the Movement” to do so. While the op is an act of revenge, it is also designed to reduce American support for the rival PIRA, which is to be blamed for the upcoming attack. The assassin sent to kill Ryan at his place of work is intercepted before he manages to complete his task. However, his wife Cathy and their daughter Sally are seriously injured when Miller causes their car to crash on a freeway; they are later transported by helicopter to the University of Maryland Medical Center for treatment. After the attack on his family, Ryan accepts an offer from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to start working as an analyst at their headquarters, partly to collect more information about the previously little-known ULA. Later, the Prince and Princess of Wales come to visit Ryan at his house in Maryland. However, this provides another opportunity for the ULA to strike, once again recruiting the services of “the Movement”. The night of the visit, they launch a sneak attack on Ryan’s home and kidnap the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Ryan’s family. Although several guards around the house, including Secret Service personnel, are killed, Ryan, his friend, fighter pilot Robert “Robby” Jackson, and the Prince manage to kill some of the terrorists. They later receive assistance from the local police, the United States Marines, and sailors from the U.S. Naval Academy, who prevent the remaining terrorists from escaping the country in a container ship. Ryan encounters a cornered Miller and tries to kill him, but is restrained by his weapons instructor. After the ULA terrorists are apprehended, he arrives in Annapolis to witness the birth of his son, Jack Ryan, Jr. 

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Chazz, Rex and Pip are in a Los Angeles hard rock band called the Lone Rangers who are continuously turned down as they try to get their demo tape heard by producers. After scolding him for being lazy, Chazz's girlfriend Kayla kicks him out of her apartment. They decide to try to get the local rock station KPPX to play their reel-to-reel tape on the air and attempt to break-in through the back door. After several unsuccessful attempts, a station employee comes out to smoke and they keep the door from shutting behind her. Once inside, laid back DJ Ian "The Shark" begins talking with them on the air. Station Manager Milo overhears them and intervenes but Ian continues broadcasting. After Milo insults Rex, by calling him "Hollywood Boulevard trash," he and Chazz pull out realistic-looking water pistols and demand airplay. After setting up an old reel-to-reel for the demo, the tape begins to play but is quickly destroyed when the player malfunctions. The guys try to run but Doug Beech, the station's accountant, had already called the police and they see the building is surrounded. They negotiate with the police who are now tasked to find Kayla who has a cassette of the demo. Since the station never went off the air, news of the hostage crisis travels quickly and numerous hard rock/metal fans begin showing up outside the radio station interfering with police. A SWAT team has also arrived whose leader prefers using force over negotiation tactics. His team secretly passes a gun through a roof vent to Beech who has been hiding in the air ducts. During the crisis, it is revealed that Milo had secretly signed a deal to change KPPX's format to Adult Contemporary, which includes having to fire Ian and most of the other employees. When this comes out, Ian and a few employees side with the band and turn against Milo. The police find Kayla who arrives at the radio station to deliver the tape. However, the tape is damaged because she threw it out of the car earlier. Chazz and Kayla get into an argument that quickly escalates and results in the studio console being destroyed, dashing any hopes to play the tape on the air. As some of the items the band demanded from police are brought into the station, the door shuts on Rex's plastic gun revealing it to be fake. Seeing this, some of the hostages run out; one telling the SWAT team the band's guns are not real. As the team assembles to storm the station, Beech corners the band from a low hanging air vent. Ian, knowing he no longer will have a job at the station, knocks down Beech's gun. This causes the weapon to wildly fire several rounds and the police are forced to back off. Ian picks up the gun but gives it to a somewhat confused Chazz in a final act of anti-establishment rebellion. Jimmie Wing, a self-serving record executive who had previously turned Chazz down, comes to the radio station and offers the band a contract. They reluctantly agree to the deal knowing they have no more options. Wing arranges an entire stage and sound system to be airlifted to the roof where the band will play their song for the now huge crowd outside. To the band's dismay, they find only the PA is real and everything else is just props. Refusing to lip sync as their tape is played, they instead destroy their instruments in protest to the delight of the crowd and stage dive into the hands of the cheering audience. The Lone Rangers are next seen playing a gig inside the prison where they are incarcerated. The concert is being shown live on MTV. Ian, now their manager, says on the phone the band will start touring in six months, or "three months if they behave themselves." A final text crawl states that The Lone Rangers served three months for kidnapping, theft, and assault with hot pepper sauce, with their album LIVE IN PRISON going triple platinum. 

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While craving her next hit, Khaila Richards (Halle Berry), an African-American crack cocaine addict, abandons her infant illegitimate son, Isaiah, in the rubbish. She promises to "come back later", but then passes out from the drugs. The next day, the infant narrowly escapes death in the garbage truck. Baby Isaiah is sent to the hospital, where they discover he is also addicted to crack through his mother's addiction. While caring for Isaiah, a social worker named Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) grows increasingly fond of him and eventually adopts him to live with her and her husband, Charles (David Strathairn) and daughter, Hannah. Meanwhile, Khaila is caught shoplifting and is sent to rehab, unaware Isaiah is alive. Three years later, Khaila successfully completes her treatment and confesses to her case worker that she abandoned Isaiah in the alley. Unknown to Khaila, the case worker investigates and discovers Isaiah's adoption. They hire a lawyer, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson) to contest the adoption. An ugly court battle ensues, with racial issues demonstrating inadequacies on both sides. The judge overturns the adoption, returning Isaiah to Khaila, much to the Lewins' horror and sadness. Even after weeks pass, a distraught Isaiah does not consider Khaila his mother. Although he becomes increasingly withdrawn, he is also prone to violent public outbursts. Eventually, Khaila is desperate for Isaiah's happiness, and asks Margaret to step back in "for a little while... until he can understand." However, she insists she will also continue to be involved. The two mothers embrace each other, both proclaiming their equally strong motherly love for Isaiah. The two mothers then begin together playing building blocks with their beloved boy in a classroom. 

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The Norwegian resistance sabotage the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant in the town of Rjukan in the county of Telemark, Norway, which the Nazis are using to produce heavy water, which could be used in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. Kirk Douglas plays Rolf Pedersen, a Norwegian physics professor, who, though originally content to wait out the war, is soon pulled into the struggle by local resistance leader Knut Straud (based on Knut Haukelid, portrayed by Richard Harris). They are both smuggled to Britain to have microfilmed plans of the hydroelectric plant examined, and then return to Norway to plan a commando raid. When a force of Royal Engineers, who were to carry it out, are all killed, Pedersen and Straud lead a small force of saboteurs into the plant. The raid is successful, but the Germans quickly repair the equipment. The Germans then plan to ship steel drums of heavy water to Germany. Pedersen and Straud sabotage a ferry carrying the drums and it sinks in the deepest part of a fjord. Besides this sequence, the raids (Operations Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside) and the final attack are depicted in location filming, in which snowy Norwegian locations serve as a backdrop for the plot. 

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The story begins in Hiroshima during the final months of World War II. Six-year-old Gen Nakaoka and his family live in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. Gen's father Daikichi urges them to "live like wheat," which always grows strong despite being trod on. Daikichi is critical of the war. When he shows up drunk to a mandatory combat drill and talks back to his instructor, the Nakaokas are branded as traitors and become subject to harassment and discrimination by their neighbors. To restore his family's honor, Gen's older brother Koji joins the Navy against Daikichi's wishes, where he is subjected to a brutal training regimen by his commanding officer and lost one friend who killed himself because of this. On August 6, the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Gen's father and siblings perish in the fires, but he and his mother escape. The shock causes her to give premature birth; Gen's new sister is named Tomoko. In the days following the attack, Gen and his mother witness the horrors wrought by the bomb. Hiroshima lies in ruins, and the city is full of people dead and dying from severe burns and radiation sickness. Gen meets a girl named Natsue, whose face has been severely burned. She attempts to commit suicide, but Gen convinces her to continue living. Gen and his mother adopt an orphan named Ryuta, who by sheer coincidence looks identical to Gen's deceased younger brother Shinji. After Gen returns to their burnt-out home and retrieves the remains of his father and siblings, he and his family go to live with Kime's friend Kiyo. However, Kiyo's crotchety mother-in-law conspires with her grandchildren to drive the Nakaokas out. Gen looks for work to pay the family's rent. A man hires him to look after his brother Seiji, who has been burnt from head to toe and lives in squalor. Though Seiji is reluctant at first, he warms up to Gen over time: The boy learns Seiji is an artist who has lost the will to live because his burns have left him unable to hold a brush. With Gen's help, Seiji learns to paint with his teeth but, eventually, he dies of his wounds. On August 14, Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender over the radio, ending the war. Following Japan's unconditional surrender, American occupation forces arrive to help the nation rebuild. Gen and Ryuta, fearing rumours they've heard about the Americans, arm themselves with a pistol they find in an abandoned weapons cache. They learn the Americans aren't as bad as they'd thought when they're given free candy, but they also witness a group of American soldiers harvesting organs from corpses for medical research. Kiyo's mother-in-law evicts the Nakaokas after Gen gets into a fight with her grandchildren, and they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. Gen and Ryuta attempt to earn money to feed Tomoko, getting involved with the local Yakuza. After the Yakuza betray them, Ryuta kills one of them with the pistol they found and becomes a fugitive. Later, Gen learns that Tomoko has been kidnapped. He finds her with the help of a classmate, only to learn that she's become ill. Tomoko dies soon after. In December 1947, Gen is reunited with Ryuta, who has become a juvenile delinquent, doing odd jobs for the Yakuza. He meets Katsuko, a girl scarred by burns from the bomb. As an orphan and a hibakusha, she is subject to discrimination and cannot go to school; Gen lends her his books and teaches her himself. 

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The story is set in legendary China. A beautiful female fox spirit named is controlling the emperor and the ruling dynasty, and is using her power over him to do evil in the nation. An immortal-in-training named is chosen by the great immortal sages for the —to seal away or destroy the evil demons that infest the world. In the course of his adventures, Taikōbō gathers other powerful companions and sets out to seal away the demons and eventually destroy the fox spirit Dakki. There are significant plot differences between the novel, the manga series and the animated adaptations. 

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Surya (Vijay) is a happy go lucky guy and often gets involved in petty fights. He falls in love with Priya (Priyanka Chopra). His brother in law Sakthivel (Nasser), advises him to join as a junior to senior lawyer Lakshminarayanan (Delhi Ganesh). He becomes a upright lawyer who values and tries to redress things the legal way. Sakthivel, is killed in the process of upholding justice by an corrupt bigwig GK (Ashish Vidhyarthi). He takes up a mission to make the layman understand his legal rights and learn the Indian law basics. So, Surya is seen as a hero by the people. GK's dairy factory gets sealed by Surya for violating food safety norms. Surya's sister Jaya (Revathi) also meets a pitiful end at the hands of GK's goons, but Surya refuses to give up. GK's goons start a riot in a village in a village and puts the blame on Surya. Surya gets arrested and gets beaten up by the corrupt cops, and retaliates in return. Surya is summoned at the court and fights up legally, suggesting several reforms in the judicial system of India. After Surya gets released, GK attempts to shoot him but gets thrashed by the people. Surya tells GK to reform before he gets punished. For his service, Surya is honoured by the President Of India. Finally, it is shown that Surya's dream had come true. 

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Beneath the Wheel is the story of Hans Giebenrath, a talented boy sent to a seminary in Maulbronn. His education is focused completely on increasing his knowledge, and neglects personal development. His close friendship with Hermann Heilner, a more liberal fellow student, is a source of comfort for Hans. Heilner is expelled from the seminary, and Giebenrath is sent home after his academic performance decreases in tandem with the onset of symptoms of mental illness. Back home, he finds coping with his situation difficult, having lost most of his childhood to scholastic study, and thus having never formed lasting personal relationships with anyone in his village. He is apprenticed as a locksmith, and seems to find satisfaction in the work; it is visceral and concrete, as opposed to the intellectual abstraction of scholarly pursuit. Despite some personal fulfillment in his existence, Hans never fully adjusts to his new situation. On a pub crawl in a neighbouring village, he and his colleagues get drunk. Giebenrath leaves the group to walk home early. Later, he is found to have drowned in a river. 

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Bob Hope plays Matt Merriwether, a New York writer who has passed off his uncle's memoirs of explorations in Africa as his own. Merriwether lives his false reputation as a great white hunter to the point of living in a Manhattan apartment furnished to look like an African safari lodge complete with sound effects records of African fauna. Based on his false reputation as an "Africa Expert", he is recruited by the United States Government and NASA to locate a missing secret space probe before it can be located by hostile forces. Hope's co-stars include Edie Adams and Anita Ekberg playing secret agents. Golfer Arnold Palmer also makes a brief cameo, playing a crazy round of golf with Hope--a scene revisited in the film Spies Like Us where Hope makes a cameo appearance and plays golf through a tent. A scene involving an unseen President John F. Kennedy in his famous rocking chair is parodied with his Russian counterpart Nikita Khrushchev rocking in a chair that squeaks loudly. 

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The story is a review of The Conversation with the Man Called Al-Mu'tasim: A Game of Shifting Mirrors, the second edition of an earlier work, The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim. Written by Mir Bahadur Ali, an Indian lawyer, and published in 1934, the second edition is described by the narrator as inferior to the first edition, published in 1932. The reviewer gives a history of the book, first describing the success of the first edition, the publishing of the second edition by a respected publisher in London, and the positive and negative reception given to it by critics. Borges states that though both books have been popular, the first had an original printing of 4,000 copies and was never reprinted, while the second is by far the better known, having been reprinted several times and translated into English, French, and German. The second has often been criticized for poor writing and for its obvious allegory to the quest of finding God. The narrator then summarizes the plot of the novel. The book is a detective story about a freethinking Bombay law student of Islamic background. He becomes involved in a sectarian riot in which he impulsively kills a Hindu, after which he becomes an outcast among the lower classes of India. He flees to a tower where he meets a robber of Parsee corpses collecting gold teeth. He then begins a journey across the subcontinent (the geography of which Borges describes in detail), interacting with untouchables along the way. He meets a man who, though destitute, is happy and spiritual. The student encounters many such people radiating a small amount of this spiritual clarity. From these experiences, he infers the existence of a perfect man, whom he calls Al- Mu'tasim. (Al-Mu'tasim means "he who goes in quest of aid" or "the seeker of shelter".) This perfect man is a higher spiritual being, the source and originator of this pure spiritual clarity. Obsessed with meeting Al-Mu'tasim, the student goes on a pilgrimage through Hindustan to find him. He eventually hears the voice of the Al-Mu'tasim resounding from a hut. He pulls back the curtain and goes in. The book ends at this point. The reviewer then gives his criticisms of the work. A long footnote at the end of the review summarises The Conference of the Birds (1177) by Farid ud-Din Attar, in which a group of birds seek a feather dropped in the middle of China by Simurgh, the bird king. Thirty birds reach the mountain of Simurgh and there they find through contemplation that they themselves are the Simurgh. (Si murgh means "thirty birds".) 

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At some time in the early twentieth century, after learning of the death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains). While there, Larry becomes romantically interested in a local girl named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), who runs an antique shop. As a pretext to converse with her, he purchases a silver-headed walking stick decorated with a wolf. Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf (which she defines as a man who changes into a wolf "at certain times of the year.") Throughout the film, various villagers recite a poem, whenever the subject of werewolves comes up: :Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night; :May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. That night, Larry attempts to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from what he believes to be a sudden wolf attack. He kills the beast with his new walking stick, but is bitten on the chest in the process. A gypsy fortuneteller named Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) reveals to Larry that the animal which bit him was actually her son Bela (Bela Lugosi) in the form of a wolf. She also reveals that Larry will transform into a wolf as well since he who is bitten by a werewolf and lives will turn into one himself. Talbot transforms into a wolf- like creature and stalks the village, first killing the local gravedigger. Talbot retains vague memories of being a werewolf and wanting to kill, and continually struggles to overcome his condition. He is finally bludgeoned to death by his father with his own silver walking stick after attacking Gwen. Sir John Talbot watches in horror as the dead werewolf transforms into his son's human form. Gwen notices as well and cries for her friend's condition as the local police arrive on the scene. 

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Elizabeth Cronin is an unassertive and repressed woman, dominated by her controlling mother Polly, who blames her for her divorce. While taking her lunch break from work, she visits her husband Charles, from whom she is separated, hoping to sort out their problems. He reasserts his desire for a divorce and says that he is in love with another woman named Annabella. While she is at a public phone, a man walking down the street breaks into her car to steal her purse, and then her car. Forced to run back to work at the courthouse, she arrives late and loses her job. As she leaves the courthouse, she runs into an old friend, Mickey, who brings up childhood memories they shared, which includes memories of Elizabeth's childhood imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred. Mickey explains how only Elizabeth could see Drop Dead Fred, and everybody else thought she was crazy. A series of flashbacks reveals that while he caused havoc for her, he also gave her happiness and a release from her oppressive mother. After a pep talk from her friend Janie, Elizabeth moves back into her mother's home, having nowhere else to go. Elizabeth finds the taped-shut jack-in-the-box that Polly trapped Fred inside in her childhood bedroom. She removes the tape, releasing Fred. He agrees to help her feel better, which she believes will only happen when she wins back Charles. However, his childish antics do more harm than good. He sinks Janie's houseboat, causes havoc at a restaurant, and tricks Elizabeth into attacking a violinist in a shopping mall. Worried by Elizabeth's recent strange behavior, Polly takes her to a (children's) psychologist. In the waiting room, Fred is seen meeting up with the imaginary friends of other patients, who are all children. The doctor prescribes medication to rid her of Fred, whom he and Polly believe is a figment of her imagination. She also changes her appearance and wardrobe. Charles now wants her back and she is overjoyed, until Fred discovers he is still cheating on her with Annabella. Heartbroken, she tells Fred that she cannot leave Charles, because she is scared of being alone. They escape to a dream sequence in which she is finally able to reject him and stand up to Polly, declaring she is no longer afraid of her. She frees her imprisoned childhood self. Fred tells her that she no longer needs him, so they kiss and he disappears. Upon awakening from the dream, Elizabeth dumps Charles and asserts herself to Polly. Before leaving, she reconciles with Polly and encourages her to find a friend to escape her own loneliness. She visits Mickey and his daughter Natalie, who blames Drop Dead Fred on mischief that has just prompted her nanny to quit. Elizabeth realizes that he is now with Natalie, although she can no longer see him. 

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